


Beautiful

by Yuri_MoonFire12



Series: Offerings to Leto [1]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist
Genre: M/M, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-27
Updated: 2013-03-02
Packaged: 2017-11-27 01:17:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 38,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/656428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yuri_MoonFire12/pseuds/Yuri_MoonFire12
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Roy Mustang finds only a few things in his world beautiful, one of them is Edward Elric. Edward Elric finds Mustang to be the one thing in his world that can finally tame him. After a quick start the two are thrown together into a fast paced romance that could end in tragedy or make them stronger as partners.</p><p>A/N: Based upon the 2003 Anime and Conqueror of Shamballa, with bits of information from Brotherhood.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mustang struggles with the only form of fire he cannot master.

**~Beautiful~**

Chapter One: Fire

 

 

There weren’t many things that Roy Mustang considered beautiful. When it came to possessions he would have to say that he found the stars on his uniform beautiful. They represented the power he had, but most importantly with each new addition they represented where he had come from and how close he was to achieving his goals. When it came to the world, he considered the countryside to be beautiful, because it was untouched, virgin and innocent. People could live their entire lives there in peace and never have to worry about half of the events that happened in the city. When it came to other intangible things like the spirit, the human soul and the multitude of elements that made up people, they were beautiful without question because they didn’t have to exist. There was no reason for them really. Some would call it the god-like ability for life to sustain itself, but it was more than that because those elements had no real explanation to motivation to sustain life. They were created for the simple purpose of being, nothing more and nothing less. Including all of this, there were a few more things that Roy considered beautiful. They came in the form of people.

Most of the people he found beautiful were almost always in his immediate reach. His entire team, Riza, Jean, Kain, Vato, Heymans, Alex and especially Maes; were all beautiful. Each for their undying loyalty to him and for the fact that they were each individually responsible for their own futures because they put the effort into it and accepted the fate that they could meet with it. Human beings like that were rare to find within themselves. That being said there was one other human being that Mustang found to be beautiful. Technically he wasn’t all that human, but within him was a fire so incredible, so complex and so beautiful that Mustang in all his understanding of the element could just not figure it out. It was too hard and too mythical for him to do it. It wouldn’t be right of him either; mystery was needed when it came to love.

It was true; the romancing, womanizing Roy Mustang was in love. It wasn’t Riza. The two of them had pasts that intertwined and brought them together at one point, but it couldn’t be helped, they were just too strong, too stubborn and far too independent to settle down. Besides, he could hardly turn Riza into a housewife. If any indication of how she trained her dog was a hint, she couldn’t be expected to raise children with any patience beyond a few seconds. The person Roy was in love with was not one member of his immediate team. It wasn’t one person from any command center or a girl from a bar he met. He met this person when the person was still a young child but that child grew and despite the age difference and the tempers they had, Mustang was in love; simple, pure and unyielding love.

He had not revealed that love to anyone. It was impossible for him to do so. He was on the fast track to Fuhrer. Grumman was into perhaps his fifth year of being the King of Amestris and despite the fact that he was a strong person he wasn’t going to be Fuhrer for much longer, simply because he was an older man. He was a great king. He brought the entire country back from the brink of destruction at the hands of Fuhrer Bradley, not only that but he was still going strong, helping the Assembly to establish a democracy that valued every citizen of the country they defended with their lives. Mustang wasn’t doing so badly either. He had already climbed several ranks and he was already a General. He helped to mend the bonds between the East and the rest of the country. He made sure to keep allies close and kept his entire unit with him, each of them were now several ranks up in their careers. Mustang, while still wishing to be Fuhrer, didn’t plot so much, instead he made sure to show that he was worthy of being Fuhrer simply on merit alone. His plan was working. He was next in line. He just needed to be patient.

His patience, as it were, could not be disturbed and it could be ruined by a relationship that many would not look kindly upon. He didn’t want to look at it that way, but anything was possible and it was possible that his love could end his career. What he wanted was to reach a position where it wouldn’t matter. He could come clean then or reveal it at that time.

“Sir.” Hawkeye walked into the General’s office and laid a stack of papers down in front of them. Each had the seal of the Fuhrer. “The King has requested that these documents be signed by the end of the day.”

Mustang groaned and sat back in his seat. This stack was at least a foot tall. There had to be at least a thousand pages in front of him. What was worse, it was noon. There was no way he would going to have it done by the end of the day. Rubbing the back of his neck he sighed and closed his eyes. If he could be Fuhrer without having to do paperwork, he would be happy. More than happy, he would be ecstatic. “That man is trying to kill me.”

“The Fuhrer also asked that you not whine about it. Most of them are left over from yesterday.” Hawkeye smirked as Roy’s mouth dropped open. The previous day Mustang left the office early claiming to want to catch up on a few personal issues. In reality he was just running from the then half foot tall stack sitting on his desk waiting for his signature.

Groaning, Mustang envisioned setting Grumman on fire. That old fart was trying to give him carpal tunnel and if he had carpal tunnel he wouldn’t be able to snap his fingers without some type of side effect and he would become a laughing stock. Grumbling he shook his head and ground his teeth. Looking up to Hawkeye he narrowed his eyes. “Thank you colonel. You are dismissed.”

Smiling, the Hawk’s Eye shook her head. “It’s what you get for being lazy.” She turned on her heel and walked out. “Try and do some work this time or it will be worse tomorrow.”

Resisting the urge to snap his fingers, the General sighed and took out his pen. “Wait.” Riza turned back to him. Mustang took a deep breath. “Get Fullmetal in here.”

“You can’t be serious.” Her hands went to her hips. “That is the third time this week that you have called him from his job to help you. Don’t you think you should do it for yourself?”

“That would be too hard. Life is good when you have subordinates to do the work for you.” It was true he had been calling on the shrimp to help him, but they worked in tandem. Mustang read what he could, signed what he could and the stuff he didn’t get to, Edward would read fast, tell him what it was and then he would decide to sign it or send it back to be revised.

Not convinced the colonel shook her head. “You are just too lazy for your own good.”

“If he wasn’t lazy, the Fuhrer wouldn’t have already called on me to help him.” Stepping into the view of both arguing parties Edward smiled gently. He had been on lunch break when the king paid him a personal visit and asked him to assist his commanding officer. The only reason he agreed was that it got him out of a stuffy basement with no windows for the rest of the day.

Mustang froze as he saw Ed. He had not expected him to be there so soon nor had he expected the King to order Edward to help him. At least with a summons he had a little while to get himself prepared. Now Edward smiled at Riza and spoke quickly with her as she tried to get him to go back to his position downstairs in the research department. Then, like Riza’s rage was calmed she walked out, grumbling about the General being lazy and his stubbornness. Roy prepared himself, Edward’s eyes now turned to him.

Mustang was suddenly struck. He was struck dead in the chest by Edward’s eyes. They were the same eyes that revealed the flames from within that were by far the most beautiful and powerful thing that the General had ever laid eyes on. They made Mustang feel alive. They made him feel heat. They made him go mad with the secret he kept locked away in his heart and that lock was slowly melting away with each look, gaze and glance he received. As the Fullmetal turned to him and fixed his gaze upon him, Mustang felt his entire being become engulfed by fire.


	2. Stolen Kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mustang struggles to hide his feelings as Edward tries to force them out.

 

**~Beautiful~**

Chapter 2: Stolen Kiss

 

 

This was the person and the most beautiful thing that Mustang had ever come in contact with. It was Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, the son of Hohenheim of Light. He had no real idea when his love surfaced. It would be weird to say it was when he first met him in Risembool. He had affection for him then, like when an adult meets an amazing child. If Mustang had to make a guess, his love had to have grown over the years, not necessarily surfaced. If it did pop up, it might have been when Edward first crossed to the other side of the gate because then Mustang felt his presence disappear and it put him into so much despair, so much agony that it ripped him apart from the inside out. He had given up his stars in favor of being an enlisted soldier. The reason he didn’t quit the military entirely was because it was the only life he had ever known. 

The feeling resurfaced when Edward returned to Central with those flying airships. Seeing him again inspired Mustang’s passions and he returned to the battlefield. Luckily he had been given his old rank and he worked his way up from there. It had been a short sighting of Ed. Not long after he and Al returned to the other side to save everyone and they stayed away for another four years. No one really heard of them till suddenly they appeared in a flash of light in the very heart of Central City. The two of them were bloody, injured in every way possible from some sort of battle.

After hospitalization they were released after a month or so. The two of them drifted home after a while and visited with their family. Then they were summoned back to Central by Grumman who wished to know what the fated the two of them. After a debriefing of how they ended up back in Amestris, Fullmetal was given the rank of Major again and Al was given the opportunity to become a State Alchemist. The younger brother refused the opportunity. Instead he went to work as an apprentice first in an apothecary office and then with special training he was sent to the hospital to train to become a doctor. He was taking classes to finally complete his medical degree. Edward took his position back, but only under the condition that he remained in the research department. No one really knew the reasoning behind it, but it seemed to make the elder Elric happy. 

Mustang could remember the way he thought about how grown up the two of them were. Alphonse had grown tall and lean. He looked like a compassionate young man. His hair he kept short once more and he was still as mild mannered as ever. Yet it had been made known once or twice that his temper was not something anyone wanted to see. Edward had returned with a calmer disposition. His hair while on the other side of the gate, he kept unbraided, back home he didn’t tie it back at all. He let his hair, which had grown considerably; hang around his shoulders and down his back during down time. His eyes, while still fiery were weary and practiced. Yet while it seemed like they had been living somewhat less violent lives, they still kept their bodies toned and trained.

Roy had been in awe of Edward then. He was still hot tempered, but their arguments had not been as loud as before. He kept himself in control and instead of running off; he shut himself down and looked off into nothing like no one existed. When presented with a problem he still attacked it, but he was cautious and took his planning slower. Most days, when Alphonse visited him in the office his entire face lit up. His eyes grew soft and before long he was rubbing his brother’s hair and smiling at him like he was his light or reason for being. To an extent he was, no one had really known how deep it ran till they saw it splashed across Edward’s face. When Alphonse wasn’t around Ed, was calm, compliant and not easily disturbed. It was like whatever he had gone through turned him into a near shell of who he used to be. Yet when he was given his assessments to renew his State Alchemist Certification he requested another battle assessment that showed that he had not lost his touch. Instead he had grown even more powerful. Roy watched fire blaze within Edward with such ferocity that he had thought about him for three or four days afterward.

Now, as the blonde sat down in his office, half the stack in his capable hands, a slow smile on his face, Roy Mustang took a deep breath. He would be doused in heat for a long time to come as Edward sat there, glowing like a bonfire.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mustang tapped his pen against the desk as he tried to concentrate. He and Edward had been working nonstop for at least four hours. He was discovering that without a break he was losing his ability to concentrate. What was more, he hadn’t been able to concentrate with Edward sitting there, jacket off and shirt unbuttoned to just below his collar bone. Every time Mustang’s eyes strayed, they went right to that patch of skin. He was staring at it right now actually. He was imagining the feel of it, the smell of his skin and the taste. Maybe it wasn’t healthy for him to sit there and fantasize about Edward like he was, but he couldn’t exactly help himself.

He didn’t know how anyone could resist Edward. His hair was gold, like the mane of a lion. His eyes were equally golden and constantly looked like they were melting when he turned his gaze on anyone. His skin, Mustang shivered at the very thought, was smooth, tan and pearlescent when the light hit it. Roy knew that he had scars all over his body. In fact the General was positive that those scars made him even more beautiful simply because he was not perfect. Not only that, but beneath the scars that showed just how hard a life he lived was the beauty of the fact that he kept every bit of himself trained, toned and strong. Edward was beautiful not because he was beautiful physically, but because he was an imperfect sun god.

“Why are you staring at me?” Edward looked up and titled his head to the side. He stacked the papers in front of him and began sorting through the ones that needed the General’s signature. He had noticed that Mustang was a little tense when he walked into his office. Edward also noticed that he had been staring off and on. What Ed wanted to know, was why.

Roy shrugged and turned away. He bit into his lip and tried to think of an excuse. He couldn’t believe he got caught. He had been so careful or so he thought. Shrugging now he said the first thing that came to mind. “You seem too happy to be here helping me. It has me curious is all.”

Nodding, Edward stood and walked over to the desk where he dropped down a stack of papers. “These need your signature.” Moving back to his spot on the floor he smirked. After a few minutes he looked back to the General. “I could be operating under ulterior motives you know.”

That had Mustang intrigued. Turning back to the Elric, he took the stack on the end of his desk and raised an eyebrow. “Really? What motives would those be?”

“Have you been to the research department in this building?” Edward grabbed his pen and started marking away at one of the pages. “No windows and a bunch of idiots in lab coats running around.” Shivering gently Edward sighed. “I need a certain amount of time away from them or I start to lose my mind.”

Roy chuckled. “I thought you liked it down there?”

“Oh I do. Don’t mistake me.” Edward turned his eyes to Mustang and noticed that the other’s eye went large for just a fraction of a second. He felt his lips try to tug into a smile, but he resisted. “My problem is that they never leave me alone.” He enjoyed working in research because it had two of the things he loved without a shadow of a doubt, books and space when it wasn’t being invaded. “Whenever I am working on something that turns them on, they hover and it’s annoying. I had to have my office moved because I couldn’t work in those conditions anymore.”

Mustang took a slow breath. Edward had turned him on. When he turned his eyes on him the last time he felt his entire body become engulfed in heat. He had to be more careful. “So you wanted to get away from your admirers?” He had heard of the first time the research department had been told about Edward’s arrival. They scrambled and murmured about the prodigy coming down. Quite literally they were all a twitter and made it a point that the Elric could have whatever he wanted. Mustang could see why he needed time away from them. They were in love with his brains and wished to accommodate and show how much they loved him.

Edward rolled his eyes. “Admirers?” Smirking he leaned his chin on one fist and quickly scanned a page in front of him. “You and I both know that they like a smart guy. As far as admirers go, I don’t have too many of those.”

Mustang gulped. He was more than an admirer, so he had to count himself out of that. He was obsessed. “I’m surprised. The wiz kid doesn’t have anyone pining for him?”

Edward’s eye twitched at the name. His jaw locked and instead of firing an insult back, contained himself. “Just shut up and finish your work.”

Mustang sighed and turned back to the papers in his hands. He had a little of his tension out, but he felt a little bad that Edward seemed to be upset with him now. He would have to do something to make it up to him. He had a while to think about it. They still had a lot of work to do and knowing Grumman, he had more paperwork waiting for him.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It turned out that Mustang was right. As soon as they finished the first stack, in a record breaking five hours, Grumman had Hawkeye show up with another stack just as tall.  It was no wonder he had Edward come to help him. He knew that he would have been working on it all for a week without the help of the kid. When Edward saw it he looked at Mustang and asked that he remind him to tell the old man ‘hell no’ the next time he had work for him.

Yawning Mustang stood and stretched. It was finally over, all that work and he was finished. Hopefully that put him back in the black and he didn’t have to worry about Grumman doing this again for at least three weeks. He looked over to Edward who was yawning, wiping at the sleep in his eyes and stacking papers as they ended their day. Smiling gently Mustang walked over to his comrade and helped him finish neatly stacking the documents it took them all day to get through. After everything was neat and back in its place Mustang stood, looked at the blonde and smiled. “You hungry?”

Edward paused before speaking. Just as he was asked his stomach made that terrible noise between a growl and a call for help. Slouching at the sound, Ed groaned. “Damn it. We didn’t even eat lunch or dinner did we?” They had had no time. Too many papers and too much determination kept them from giving into their bodies and eating.

Smirking Mustang shrugged. “Come on, I will cook something for the both of us and give you a ride home later.” As Mustang walked away he paused when he felt eyes burning into the back of his skull. Turning back he spotted Edward watching him suspiciously. “What?”

Ed grumbled. “Why are you being so civil?”

“I am almost always civil to you Edward, you just insist on me being the opposite. Besides, I would have still been in that chair for the next week if you hadn’t been told to assist me.” Laughing gently, he opened the door to his office and motioned the other behind him. “Better I feed you now and keep you happy; otherwise I will be doing paper work by myself the next time Grumman decides to torture me.”

Even Edward couldn’t argue with that logic. The second part he couldn’t anyway. “Civil my ass.” Grabbing his jacket Edward quickly followed the General out.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Edward had never been to Mustang’s place. He had known that it was spacious living quarters based upon his rank. It was a town house, three floors, a basement and enough rooms to house his entire team if he so wished it. As he was invited in Edward kept himself from gawking. He and Al were living in an apartment that was barely big enough for all their research, books and other tempers. It sucked that they always were on top of one another, but at the time it was military housing, it gave them everything they needed and they weren’t about to complain.

Mustang quickly moved to the kitchen where he looked through the refrigerator and cupboards to decide on what he wanted to eat. He wasn’t too badly of a picky eater, but he did have a habit of making sure that whatever he ate at least had some merit to it. “Any requests?”

Ed shrugged as he sat down at the kitchen table. “As long as it tastes good.” Actually if he was being true to himself, he should acknowledge that he would eat anything as long as it kept him alive. He learned that from Teacher.

Nodding Mustang took off his coat and military jacket. Setting them across one of the chairs he grabbed a few pots and pans and set to work. Not long after he set down a plate of steak, carrots and potatoes in front of his guest. At the sight of it, Edward’s mouth dropped open, his eyes went wide and he grabbed his fork and knife and without hesitating dug in. As Mustang offered him bread he all but took the hand too as he downed everything he was given. Mustang took his time with his food. When Edward was nearly finished he was barely halfway through his own meal. His guest for the night waited for him, even cleaned a few of the dishes while his commanding officer finished. Overall, nothing was really said, they didn’t need to say anything.

“Coffee?” Edward murmured. He needed to stay up for a little while to come anyway. He had an array to finish and present the next day.

Standing Mustang grabbed it from the cabinet, set it front of Edward and pointed to the percolator on the stove. A few minutes later a cup was given to Mustang as Edward sat next to him with his own.

Taking a sip Mustang smiled as he breathed in the warmth. “Thank you.”

Edward shook his head. “You made me dinner, it was the least I could do.” Looking over at the General Edward smirked as he caught the other watching him yet again. This was getting out of hand and he was getting impatient. He figured he would have to do something to edge the other along.

Edward knew that Mustang had feelings for him. He could tell in the way that Mustang spoke to him and looked at him. The Flame was not as hard to figure out as he suspected himself of being. The only time he was able to keep a secret was if it pertained to over throwing the government or something like that. When it came to his feelings, they were fair game. Even now, he was trying to keep his distance from Ed. He had scooted his chair to the very corner of the table. His eyes were carefully turned away from him and he made sure to keep a considerable distance between their arms. It was almost like he was testing his limits. That being said Edward knew how he felt about his commanding officer. Yes, he had a few liaisons in the past, but for the most part he had not been satisfied with the people he dated. For some reason they hadn’t been able to spark any type of unbearable desire within him and that was really what he wanted.

“I guess I need to get you home huh?” He was almost sad about it, but he had no real choice.  He was drowning in heat and when he was finally alone he had two options, take a cold shower or spend the rest of his night drowning in flames. The shower had a little bit more of his dignity left in it.

Nodding Edward stood and collected his uniform jacket. “Yeah, I still have a few more things to finish.”

Standing with him Mustang threw his coat back on and ushered the younger to the door. As they got in the car and drove away Mustang tried to get over the fact that he was feeling a little upset that the other was leaving his home. He wouldn’t have minded if Ed stayed. He was good company and it gave Mustang a bit of a kink that the blonde was just a few stairs away from his bedroom. If only he had the nerve to act on such fantasies, he would be golden.

It was kind of ironic that he had nerve enough to take down the former Fuhrer, but he didn’t have enough balls to tell the man he had been pining over for about six years that he was in love with him. He couldn’t help himself really. How in the world was he going to tell someone as straight forward as Ed that he was in love? How was he supposed to justify it and make sure that the Fullmetal didn’t look at him with disgust and suspicion? Knowing Edward he would over analyze their entire history together and label him as being unnaturally attracted to a little boy. He didn’t need that kind of rejection on his plate. It was funny, he could handle a woman rejecting him, not that there were many on that list, but Edward rejecting him was a whole other matter that he was just not ready for.

Fullmetal sat back in his seat. “Right here.” Taking a deep breath as the car stopped Ed tuned back to the General; he gave him a light smile. They sat there for a moment and finally Ed couldn’t take it anymore.  “Thanks, for dinner.” Without even hesitating Edward quickly ducked over to the other’s side of the car and gave Roy a gentle kiss. Mustang stiffened at the contact, but quickly his hand came up to the blonde’s face and held him there for just a moment. The blonde gave himself a triumphant mental pat on the back. He had been planning this moment the entire car ride and he was happy he got the desired results. Mustang wasn’t so spineless after all.  

Mustang stilled as he felt Edward’s lips against his own. He had not been expecting that. It made him go stiff at first, but then, he never imagined Ed’s lips to be as soft as they were nor had he expected him to be so good at kissing. He knew he had a little more experience, but Edward was still good enough that it surprised him. Not many of Roy’s lovers had ever surprised him. The wiz kid had done that in little to no time at all and then just like that, the kiss was over. They separated a moment later. He looked into the eyes of the Fullemtal and he watched in fascination as Edward grinned at him, ducked out of the car and quickly jogged inside the apartment building. Mustang fell back into his seat for a moment and groaned. Cold showers were not going to make him feel better tonight. Biting into his lip he put the car in gear and made the drive home. 


	3. Choices

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the first kiss Mustang is in turmoil over what it means, Ed on the other hand enjoys seeing him suffer.

**~Beautiful~**

Chapter 3: Choices

 

 

 

Mustang sat at his desk, fingers laced together. He was contemplating washing all the windows in his office, he needed something to keep his hands busy. After last tonight he really didn’t have too much work to do which was a bad thing considering that last night he hadn’t gotten any sleep, because all he could think about was the kiss Edward had given him. He didn’t get it. Did that mean that Edward felt the same way about him? Did it mean that Edward was humoring him or something? Whatever the case it kept his mind from everything and anything that could have been important in that moment. That also begged a whole other question; would he be able to face Edward now that he had initiated a response? He didn’t know what he was going to do.

It wasn’t that he was at a loss for what to do. He just didn’t know what kind of response Edward wanted. Was he looking for him to confess to love or to invite him to his bedroom? From what he understood of Edward, he was independent, but that did not keep him from dating. The only problem was that he never dated a single person for long. From what he heard every relationship lasted a month or so and that was it. Mustang could not expect that this time would be any different. Which meant that he would have to back off at the idea, only because he didn’t know if he could stand being with Edward with how deep his feelings were for the younger male. He wanted something long lasting and deeply connected. He hadn’t waited six years and to have someone for just thirty days.

But what if Edward wanted a long lasting relationship? What if he wanted to be with Mustang the way that Mustang wanted to be with him? They would have to talk things out because he was positive that his superiors and a ton of others for that matter would wonder about his decision to keep a man at his side rather than a woman. Not to mention that he was positive the blonde would not accept the fact that he would have to keep their relationship low key. He was sure that on the one hand their contact would have to be reined in for obvious reasons, but to keep their relationship period from the eyes of the public, that was asking for trouble because Edward was not low key about anything. What was more, they would have to live together if things got really serious. And what about nights? Roy couldn’t stay with Ed and it was obvious that if Edward stayed with him the neighbors would find out.

Mustang smacked a hand to his head. This was already too complicated.

After debating about the situations he could possibly face, Mustang decided that he needed answers. He stood, gathered himself together mentally and left the office intent to discover everything he possibly could from the elder Elric. He made it all the way to the research department and threw open the door. They must not have got too many visitors. The lab junkies running around jumped at his entrance. Raising one eyebrow he looked around trying to locate his sun god. “Where is the Fullmetal?”

A few men looked at one another for a while before answering. “He is in his office sir.” They pointed to one door with a name plate on it, it read _‘Lieutenant Colonel Edward Elric.’_

As they pointed the door burst open. “Hey! I’m going to meet Al for lunch, do _not_ touch _any_ of my stuff.” Edward bounded out of his office. At the sight of Mustang he paused, raised an eyebrow and quickly shook off his surprise. Turning back to the people he worked with he went on. “I will know if you go in there… _don’t_ even _think_ about it.” Quickly he ran for the door. He shoved past Mustang and waved. “Talk to you later, gotta meet Al!”

And like that Mustang’s eyebrow twitched. He had finally worked up the nerve to confront Edward and he ran on him.  He didn’t know if he would be able to do this again. Turning around he trudged back up the stairs and decided he could spend what time he could sulking about the fact that Edward completely ruined his determination.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------

Edward grinned as he jogged down the street to the restaurant where he was meeting his brother. He knew he was going to get one of two responses after that kiss last night, either Mustang was going to never speak to him again or he was going to get to the bottom of everything. Ed was glad it was the latter. Running through the door he spotted his brother sitting near the window of the bistro. Quickly he ran to him and took a seat across from him in the booth.

“Hey.”

Alphonse smiled. His brother was in a good mood today. He could tell by the way his face seemed to be glowing and the way he was all but bouncing in his seat. “Hello brother.” Al could only suspect that this had something to do with why Edward had come home in the middle of the night. Al also suspected that it had something to do with Mustang. He was aware that Ed had a thing for the General. In fact, his brother spoke of it often to him simply because the two did not keep secrets from one another if they could help it. While he didn’t completely understand his brother’s wishes, he respected them and he knew that as long as Roy didn’t hurt Ed in any way, he approved.

“Did you order yet?” Edward picked up a menu and began scanning it. His eyes settled on the steak they had with green veggies drenched in cheese sauce.

Al smirked and shook his head. “I just got here. I did get us some tea though and a glass of water.”

“Good, I am starving.” Setting the menu down, Ed smiled at his brother. “How has your day been so far?” He and Al had lunch together every single day. They didn’t often see one another at home. With Al studying and Edward working, sometimes late into the night, what time they spent together consisted of a ‘Hi’ and ‘Bye’ at the start and end of the day. Lunch was their way of catching up and staying in touch.

Al shrugged and sat back in his seat. “Nothing special. The professors are boring me just a little bit. Exams are coming up. I am going to have to pull a few all-nighters for those.” Looking back at the window he was sitting near Al smiled and shrugged. “Same old, did you talk to Roy yet?”

Laughing gently Edward shook his head. He figured his brother would ask about that. “No, he tried to do that just before I came here.” The waitress came with their tea and water, took their orders and then left their table again. “You should have seen the look on his face when I ran past him.” Smirking at his handy work Edward sat back smug. He was sure that before the day was out, Mustang would catch up to him again. He just needed to work up the courage was all.

Laughing at his brother’s deviance Al shook his head and smiled. “It’s not nice to play with him brother.” He knew of his brother’s sadistic streak. Sometimes he felt the need to ‘play’ with people or to tease someone past their breaking point. Some of it stemmed from his insecurities, but most of it was all his brother. He was a giving person to a fault, he just didn’t feel that way all the time. 

Edward smiled like a content cat. “Sure sure. I promise not be too rough with him.”

Al laughed gently as their food came. He felt a little bad for Mustang. If there was anything he knew about his brother, he knew that he would never fall in love on accident, nor would he roll over and give into those feelings. He was going to have what fun he could so that the balance was kept.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Edward ran down the steps to the basement of the research department. His lunch with Al had been what it always had, too short and tons of fun. He loved hanging out with his brother. As he hit the bottom step, one of his assistants came running up to him.

“Sir, we tried to stop him, but he wouldn’t listen to any of us.”

Edward looked up and saw that his door was open and he specifically remembered closing it. Growling under his breath he marched over to the door. “Who the hell was it?” His assistant shuffled behind him sputtering, but barely able to speak. Shoving the door open the rest of the way to see the damage, Ed froze as he spied Mustang sitting in his chair, smug and all smiles. Edward’s mouth dropped open slightly. “What-…”

“Figured I would wait on you.” Mustang had known that if he really left Edward’s office he would never get what he wanted out of the brat. It was best to keep what little determination he had and confront the issues they were facing dead on. At the look of shock on Edward’s face he felt the upper hand tip in his favor.

Sighing Ed smirked. One hand went to his hip and the other he ran through his hair. Turning back to the man still sputtering behind him Ed shrugged. “It’s fine. The General is allowed down here. He is my commanding officer.” Pushing the man from the doorway Edward slammed the door closed and turned to Mustang. “You scared the entire staff. You realize they will be listening in to everything said now, they are already too quiet for my liking.”

Smirking, Roy stood. “Then it’s good I don’t have much to say.” Walking over to Edward he made sure to close the distance between them to just a inch’s worth of a gap. On instinct Edward backed himself against the door. Roy grinned as he turned on the charm. His voice turned deep and sultry, his movements were slow and sensual. As he approached Edward’s eyes went wide. “You have some nerve pulling that on me last night.” Edward gasped as a hand touched the small of his back, his knees gave an involuntary jerk as they gave out for a moment. The only thing holding him up was his automail leg and Roy’s hand. “If I had known you could be so crafty, I would have tried to get to you before you got to me.” Ed’s eyes turned molten gold as they connected with the one good eye of Mustang’s. Roy reveled in the moment as Edward’s breath hitched. Pressing the other to the door now Mustang grabbed both Ed’s wrists and pinned them to his sides, he leaned in, just barely touching his lips to Ed’s. Beneath him, Edward’s mouth dropped open, his body surrendering against its will to The General’s advances. “The next time you try something like that,” Mustang shivered in mock pleasure, at the sight he felt Ed’s knees give way and a gasp escape his lips. Without saying anything more Roy pulled back, bringing Edward with him by the hand. The Fullmetal came willingly, his bones weak and the spell still unbroken. Then with one last smile Mustang was out the door, closing it behind him as he went. His steps echoed off the stone steps as he returned to the upper floors.

The spell finally broken, Edward ran a hand over his face. He was sweating, more than that he was shaking. That was not what he had been expecting. He had expected Mustang to be confused and talk to him about the pros and cons. He had expected the elder to take things slow and explain why they shouldn’t work, but why he still wanted them too. What he had not expected the God of Fire to pin him down and turn him into malleable clay. He had not expected Mustang to be so damn sexy. What really made Edward upset, was that he had not expected to like it as much as he did.

Returning to his desk Edward sat down and groaned. He wouldn’t be able to finish his work at all today. Moaning quietly he shook his head as he smelled Roy’s scent all over his office. He shouldn’t have been able to smell it, but he couldn’t help himself, especially when he was feeling fire shooting through his veins. Getting himself together after a few minutes, Edward’s eyes returned to his desk as he tried to return to his work as a welcomed distraction from the man that made him turn weak in the knees. What he saw sitting on top of his books, notes and supplies was a note. Edward’s heart beat sped up. He shivered as a slow smile crossed his lips.

_Dinner, my place, tonight. Eight o’clock. You don’t have a choice._


	4. Orders

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ed heads to Roy's for dinner, not for food, but to meet his fate.

**~Beautiful~**

Chapter 4: Orders

 

Edward stood on the steps in front of Mustang’s door and he felt a cold shiver run up his spine. After their encounter in his office Edward didn’t know what he was going to do once that door closed. He had thought about it for most of the day before he left the office early, got dressed again and all but ran to the place where his fate with the General would ultimately be decided. Tugging at his coat he walked up the last step and knocked on the door.

Mustang smirked as he heard the knocking on his door. He looked over to the clock on the wall and it read eight o’clock exactly. Turning off the stove he walked over to the door calmly. He didn’t want to appear too eager, although he definitely was. He had been proud of himself for turning the tables on Edward. He had been in a manic mood all day because of it. Even his team wondered what the hell was wrong with him. Turning the knob on the door he pulled it open and nearly moaned.

While Edward had taken to wearing more mature clothing since his return, it did not keep him out of the red coat and black leather pants that everyone knew him for. The clothing had changed only slightly. Now instead of the coat being thin it was slightly heavy, the sleeves were over oversized, hanging in a large cuff around the brown gloves as white marks that reminded Roy of the strokes for a transmutation circle ran up and down its arms. The hood was larger, so much so that when back it hung around the Elric’s shoulders. The flamel sign was still on the back. That was something that Edward would never remove. His shirt was no longer sleeveless; instead it was long sleeved as his boots came up to mid-calf.

Roy backed up and let the other inside. As the other passed he noticed two belts, each hung diagonally over his hips. Mustang licked his lips and kept himself in control. He had to remind himself that this night was not about trying to bed Edward. Instead it was about trying to decide where they were as of that moment. “You could have worn the uniform, no need to dress.”

Edward rolled his eyes and came out of his boots. He looked over to Mustang who had changed into a simple white buttoned shirt and black dress pants. “I could say the same for you.” Scoffing, he shrugged out of his coat and hung it on the coat rack he spotted. “If I am going to be trapped in this house with you, I figured I should be comfortable.”

“Of course you did.” Roy closed the door. “Hungry?” He walked past Edward to the kitchen. He didn’t hear the other behind him, so he turned. Edward was watching him wearily. “Something wrong?” Mustang turned ready to apologize if there was something he had done wrong or forgotten.

Ed narrowed his eyes. “Don’t play games with me Mustang. You wanted me here for a reason, I want to know what it is.” He should talk. He had been the one to start the game in the first place. But still he couldn’t afford to be caught off guard again. He didn’t know where it would end if he did.

Smirking Roy crooked a finger at Edward. Smiling sexily he walked off into the kitchen, shouting back as he went. “All in due time. Come and have something to eat.”

As the other turned the corner, Edward took a moment to regroup himself. He had not expected that. This was what he meant about being caught off guard. One gesture and one smile and he was ready to jump him. Gulping he followed Roy into the kitchen.

As he turned the corner, part of him expected a fancy meal with candlelight, lucky for him Roy kept things simple. Instead of water or tea, there was wine and two place settings. Each plate was at the ends of the table, with plenty of room between them. Sitting down at the first spot at the table Ed steeled himself.

Their dinner was a salad, chicken in a light sauce and cake for dessert. The cake, Mustang confessed, was store bought. They didn’t talk about much. They discussed a few things happening in the office, a few things about their careers and Al’s progress in school. Then finally when they were both finished and Roy was pouring another glass of wine for the both of them he sat down, laced his fingers together and looked Edward dead in the eye.

“Why did you kiss me the other night?”

Ed sputtered and choked on his wine. Recovering a second later he looked down at his empty plate. “Um, it was kind of-…”

“You planned it, I can tell that much.” Mustang interrupted.

Ed got himself together. There was no way he was going to roll over and let him control this conversation. Sitting back and crossing his arms and he narrowed his eyes. “Fine, I planned it. But you weren’t helping. I was hoping you would finally man up and finally be bold, so I had to help you along when you didn’t.”

Mustang raised an eyebrow. That was a good answer, especially because he was dead on. Edward wouldn’t have gotten much out of him for a long time if he hadn’t made the first move. Smiling at the fire in Edward’s eyes Roy sat back as well. “Today, when you ran out to meet Al, were you expecting me to be there or did you plan that as well?”

The blonde rolled his eyes. “How the hell was I supposed to know you would show up at my office?” Ed grabbed his plate and put it in the sink. “You’ve never come down to the research department before.”

“But you did expect me to find you at some point?”

Edward nodded as he sat back down. “That or never speak to me again. I figured the odds were in favor of the latter after the way you touched me when I kissed you.”

“Hmmm…” Mustang took another sip of his wine. “Then you understand that we need to talk about a-…”

“Don’t give me that.” Edward pushed himself out of chair, walked over to Mustang, pulled the other out from the table and straddled his lap. Taking his face in his hands, he kissed Mustang hard. At the feeling the elder man took Edward’s hips into his hands and urged the other further onto his lap.

Mustang moaned quietly. He had not been counting on this. He should have turned up the charm, but either way the result probably would have been the same. Edward was not going to let him take the upper hand again. Not if he could help it. He could tell by the way Ed’s tongue invaded his mouth and travelled every inch of it before dueling with the Flame’s. Somehow Mustang managed to push Edward’s tongue back into his own mouth before his own searched the cavern. Once again he was met with resistance and he found himself grabbing the back of Edward’s head and forcing him to submit. It took a few minutes and Mustang using his other hand to grab hold of Ed’s backside for the other to finally relent and pull away.

A thin line of saliva connected them and as it broke Ed grinned. “See? You want me. What is so complicated about that?”

Mustang could have laughed. That had been an experiment to show his true feelings on the subject. He should have known. This meant that Edward had landed the upper hand twice. A self-respecting man like Mustang, who had had as many suitors as he could possibly want for most of his life could not let that slide. Reaching between them, he palmed the bulge in Edward’s leather pants and watched the blonde hiss and throw his head back. “Yes, I do want you.” Roy latched on to Edward’s pulse point and sucked hard. After hearing Edward moan for a moment he gave it a harsh nip and pulled away, smiling at the red mark he’d left. “But I haven’t gotten anywhere with anything without thinking it through Ed.”

One point for Mustang. Ed moaned as the hand on his crotch didn’t stop rubbing him, his adversary had managed to get under his skin again for two specific reasons; firstly, he couldn’t exactly back away from this kind of pleasure and second, logic was not something he couldn’t argue with. _‘Damn it’_ Edward moaned again, that bastard had one upped him twice. “Your point?”

Smiling Roy stopped his motions. Under his touch Ed shivered and relaxed. “You have to know why this is so dangerous for the both of us. Your reputation and my own could be forfeited.”

Ed nodded as he looked into the other’s eye. “I know that. I wouldn’t have come after you like I did if I had not thought about every angle.” To him it was a no brainer. He wanted Mustang and he genuinely cared. When he first heard about what happened to Mustang after everything went down with Fuhrer Bradley he had been angry and upset, more so, he was upset that Mustang had resigned his post. If he had been around he would have kicked the General’s ass for that move.

“Then you understand that while I am willing to be with you, I want you, all of you, not just _this_.” His hands pulled the zipper down and pulled out Edward’s cock. Giving it a squeeze he smiled as Edward all but fell out of his lap. The blonde instead managed to shift so that he could sit on the table. His was breathing hard, a blush working its way from his cheeks down his neck and to his chest.

Edward quickly tucked himself back into his pants, zipping them up. He had not expected that. _‘That was three.’_ He thought wearily. Mustang was turning him inside out with his ability to make him needy and wanton. He didn’t know how this was happening to him. Breathing deep he pulled himself from his aroused state. “Explain.” He reached over and ran a hand down Mustang’s cheek so that the other didn’t think he was rejecting the idea.

Catching Edward’s hand Mustang turned his lips into the palm and kissed it. “I don’t do short term relationships with someone I really want Edward. I have wanted you for nearly six years now. I would never choose to enter into a relationship where I had invested so much emotionally.” 

“I understand.” Ed sat back and took another deep breath. Mustang had once again turned the tables. He didn’t know the other wanted him that way as well. Relationships had not always been his thing. It wasn’t that he didn’t feel strongly, it was that not many could handle his personality or his life style. On the one hand he liked being able to pick up and go, he didn’t like planning unless it involved something he was passionate about. He also liked his own space. Being around someone constantly was not his idea of romance. Yes, he wanted to feel like he loved someone enough that he needed them around as much as possible, but at the same time, he wanted to be able to take a day and just be with Al or other friends if that was at all possible without having a significant other around. He wanted to keep his independence and individualism.

Looking up he shrugged out of his shirt. He watched Roy’s eyebrows raised in confusion. Ed sighed. He touched his automail arm. “I don’t pretend to understand exactly how this works. What I know about it is that its function gives me back something that I’ve lost. I know that it is part of me and because it’s part of me I know that I can’t give it up easily. Pointing to the scars on his chest, back and arm he went on. “These are part of me too. I can remember how I got each and every one of them and I can tell you that if I had the chance to do most of it over again, I would still do the same thing because deep down I know that the reason I am the way I am is because of the decisions I have made.” Looking up at the General he smirked. “See, I am set a little in my ways.” He didn’t want to come right out and say that he came with baggage or that he was not really to divorce his habits because of the relationship he was in. What he wanted was compromise. “So when I tell you that my automail is part of me, that I can’t just wrench it from the socket and be done, I mean it.”

Roy smirked. Reaching up he traced the port and the skin that bordered it. Leaning forward he touched the metal with his lips, slowly, gently. At the touch, he could feel Edward stiffen. His flesh hand wound into Mustang’s hair, his breathing strained, not in desire, but in nervousness. Sitting back Mustang pulled Edward off the table and into his lap again. “What makes you think that I would want you in any other way than this?” He reached up and brought Ed’s metal hand to his lips. He kissed the knuckles and smiled. “I know who you are and I know how you feel, I feel the same way.” He knew what Edward wanted. He had explained in that moment why he was different from most people when it came to relationships. He didn’t want to change himself. He wanted to remain who he was no matter what.

Edward’s desire returned. Without hesitating he brought his hands up to trace the eye patch that kept the last bit of Mustang hidden. Kissing the other gently he sighed. “I want all of you too, so don’t hide this from me.”

Mustang smirked. He should have known that would come up. Looking into Edward’s eyes he waited as the item was lifted from his face and Edward leaned forward kissing the scared eyelid before trailing his lips down to Roy’s lips where they were tangled in one another once again.

This time, Mustang’s shirt came off. He wasn’t exactly sure how, what he did know was that his shirt was now useless, buttons had popped off as Edward attacked his skin, leaving wet kisses in the wake of his fingers. Then before long they were both shirtless, food and wine everywhere as Mustang pushed it out of the way to settle Edward on the table. Neither of them pushed themselves to the point of sex. This was the start of something, it just wasn’t intercourse. Touching, tracing and getting to know each other’s bodies from the waist up was enough.

Roy moaned. He had dreamed of the way that Edward would taste, but the fact that he was so delicious, even with the taste of dinner and wine on his tongue was enough to make Mustang groan and nearly lose it.

When he had spent forever day dreaming about his lover he had wanted for a while to swallow his sun god. He had wanted to take that brightness within himself and bask in the feeling. This was close, very close and he was pleased for the time being. This was enough, it was more than enough and it was utterly beautiful.

Edward cried out as lips descended on his throat and sucked, bit and nipped at his skin. His legs went around Mustang’s waist as he was ravaged. He had never known he would enjoy someone taking him like this, but then again, whoever did manage to do that would have to be strong and the General was the perfect candidate. He was strong, mentally, physically, he was sturdy. Hands shifted to move under Ed’s legs and he was hauled up, his legs still around Mustang’s waist. Before long he was pressed against the wall, his lips meeting the other’s again. Their bodies were grinding without thought. Mustang’s hips met Edward’s and their bodies, out of their own needs pressed to each other’s creating the friction and heat that they desperately wanted to increase until everything was left in fiery bliss.

The high came and went, leaving them panting, their bodies still pressed together against the far wall. Edward’s legs had fallen back down to the ground as Roy let them go. They were sweating, kissing between heavy breaths and the afterglow of what they had experienced was plain in the smell of the air to the floor that was proof of their hurried bliss. 

Ed grinned when he was finally able to think clearly again. “That was…” He couldn’t even finish that. He had never felt that with anyone else. Nothing had ever come close to that.

Roy smirked and kissed Ed again. “Yeah.” Finally pulling away he turned away from the other to the mess on the floor. “It figures you would find a way to make me go mad.” He had not expected all that happened tonight. What he didn’t expect was to clean up glass and food remnants.

“Oh shut up, that was your fault.” Ed caught Mustang’s hand and turned around for another kiss. He let the other go so that they could collect their shirts and clean up the mess they had voluntarily made.

When they were finished, Roy turned to Edward, his eyes trailing over the body of the man he had just plundered. He wasn’t joking when he said that Edward was a sun god. His skin was tanned all over, even, natural. His hair was just as bright as the sun, golden not like the metal, but as if single strands of the brightest star in the sky had been settled on his head. The sun wasn’t just evident in the way he looked. There was a confidence, a light inside of Ed that shinned like the sun at noon. Roy shivered as he remembered how hot his skin had been against his own. “Do you want a shower?”

Edward blinked and shrugged as he threw away the last of the broken glasses. He turned and looked to Mustang. Ed blushed as he took in the way Roy was looking at him. Roy’s eyes were worshipping him. That look made him shift nervously. “Yeah, that would be a good thing. I still have to go back home though-…”

“I will take you home in the morning. Stay the night with me.” He had never had anyone stay in his bed. It was true he had stayed in the beds of others, but he had never had anyone warm in _his_ bed before. It excited him at the very thought of Edward being there.

Looking up to Mustang Ed raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t you just say we had to be discrete?” He didn’t mind that their relationship had to be a little secret. In fact he liked it that way. No one had to be in his business and that meant the same thing when he came to him screwing around with Roy. However, him staying the night at the other’s house was not his way of being clandestine.

Moving to take Ed into his arms again Roy licked at his lips. “Not tonight. Tonight I want you to stay. I can take you home early in the morning and you can get changed there and head to work.”

Capturing the lips of his commanding officer Edward moaned then smiled. “I do have to obey your commands don’t I General?” His arms wound around the body pressed to his own.

They both knew that in all the time they had known one another Edward didn’t understand the idea of obeying commands. He couldn’t even if he tried. Laughing gently Roy rubbed their noses together and smiled. “Indeed you do Lieutenant Colonel.”

“I guess I am staying then.” 


	5. The Sun God Leto

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roy and Ed wake the next morning blissfully, but there is more on Mustang's mind than just waking every morning to see Ed lying next to him.

**~Beautiful~**

Chapter 5:

The Sun God Leto

 

 

Mustang whined and turned over in bed. His gaze was blinded by the light in the room and it made him sit up suddenly. It was early he could tell by looking at the clock. He shook his head at the possible impossibility that he had woken earlier than he needed too. Usually he woke up at eight in the morning and was in the office by nine thirty. The clock read seven. It clicked after a moment. For once in about a year or two he had finally gotten a decent rest. It didn’t matter what time he went home and slept. Usually he never got the right amount of actual rest he was looking for. His mind never shut off and his issues, problems and goals clouded his mind like nothing else. It was one of the reasons he often napped in his office.

Looking down Mustang smiled as he found the source of his rest. Edward was curled in the bed next to him, one arm slung over Mustang’s waist and the metal hand once against his stomach, twitching as he rested. In his sleep, Edward looked younger, like the weight of the world had never been on his shoulders and despite the fact that his body literally was scared with the path he had taken, Mustang would have believed he was at least four to five years younger. Touching the other’s hair he smiled lightly to himself. He had been a little nervous crawling into bed with the Fullmetal the night before. Neither of them were girls and neither of them were ready to cuddle. However as it were, after the showers, they just fell into bed and didn’t have to think about it. Edward curled into him, Roy curled around Edward and before long they were out cold.

Lying down next to his bed partner Roy wrapped his arms around the blonde and buried his nose in blonde hair. Edward smelled like Roy knew he did. He smelled like the sun, like the dessert, hot and full of unseen life. Edward was Leto in human form, despite his feelings on the subject of deities. Before Roy could help it he murmured in Edward’s ear. He wanted to wake him up, but he wanted to do it gently, slowly. He wanted to enjoy the time he had with Edward before his golden eyes opened and that fierce look returned to him. He was positive that Edward was not the type for endure prolonged physical contact without a good reason. After lying there for ten minutes, whispering to the blonde about his beauty, his love and his warmth, Edward stirred.

Ed felt warm. He hadn’t felt that way since he returned to Amestris. Yes, sometimes he slept next to someone, but he never felt warm in the sense of contentment. Opening his eyes slowly Edward became aware that someone was whispering in his ear. Something was calling him from his dreams with a gentle combing of his hair and wandering touches that were designed to be sentimental, not seductive. As the weight of reality finally settled he realized what was going on. Roy was the one whispering him, he was also the one tracing his skin and touching his hair.

Moaning Ed looked up into darkened eyes and pulled away. He ran a hand over his face and keened at the fact that it was early. His eyes found the clock and he groused at the idea of it being a little later than seven in the morning. He may enjoy his job, but he wasn’t happy getting up in the morning. He liked to sleep in on any occasion. Falling back into the pillows he looked over to Mustang and grumbled behind his hand. “Morning.”

Roy smiled. He missed touching Ed in just those two seconds, especially because Ed looked absolutely human in that moment. He was groggy, his hair all over the place and his face scrunched up in drowsiness. It took everything Mustang had not to reach forward, grab Ed and curl around him like he had the night before. It had been nice to feel him respond and curl into him but like he thought, his partner rolled away from him and the contact had ceased. “Good morning.” Roy moved to get out of bed when Edward’s metal hand grabbed his own and tugged him back into bed. He looked over to the blonde who smiled at him and leaned against his head on his chest as Roy was settled back into bed.

“Don’t stop, it felt good.” Edward wasn’t one for cuddling and had they not been in bed together he probably would have found it weird. That being said, what he enjoyed was that Roy wasn’t afraid to touch him. Despite the fact that his loved ones loved him nearly unconditionally, many of them weren’t about to touch him because they were afraid that at a touch he would either disappear or run away. He wouldn’t say it wasn’t true either

Nodding, Roy kissed the top of Edward’s head and began running his hands through golden hair again. Beneath his touch, Edward groaned and turned into him. “I suppose I will have to do this more often.” He was surprised that Ed would let him do this.  

Moaning as his scalp was massaged Edward shrugged. “As long as you promise to do it like this every time, you can do what you want to me.” When Roy stiffened and laughed gently Ed rolled his eyes. “You’re perverted.”

Roy laughed. “It’s your fault.”

They laid in bed for another half an hour before they both decided they needed to get up. After they were both dressed again Roy pulled his lover downstairs to the kitchen for breakfast. After cuddling a little more, coffee and toast and scrambled eggs Roy finally conceded that it was time to take Edward to get dressed and from there they had to get to work. It pained Roy to be away from Edward any more than he had to be, but at the same time he knew that at least he wouldn’t have to worry about it. He could grab Ed for dinner or something later.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ed poured over a particular journal he had just gotten in from the north. He had been given the opportunity to come up with a new line of defense for the great northern wall. His work wasn’t that difficult, but it was taken the latter part of the day to finish. The array he was creating had been bothering him and he wanted to take the time to puzzle it out. If he did, it would help with any potential invasion from Drahcma. Reports were coming in that they were mobilizing slowly. Conflict was inevitable. His array wasn’t anything too serious, it was a back up plan just in case the wall should ever go down but with Armstrong’s sister still in charge of the place, Ed was quite sure it would never be needed.

One of the only female assistants in the research department stuck her head in the door to Ed’s office. She was blushing so red her hair was about to light on fire and her voice stuttered slightly. “Sir, General Mustang is here for you.”

Ed shook his head. Mustang had been flirting again. If it wasn’t for the fact that he knew the General’s personality he would be jealous. The man just couldn’t seem to help himself. “Let him in.”

She stepped aside and Roy walked in, all smiles, smug and still flirting. “Thank you Jenny.” She giggled and squirmed under his gaze. “If you are ever tired of working for Elric by all means, another pretty face in my office would be appreciated. Havoc would just about fall in love with you.” Roy smiled gently, his eyes raking over her face appreciatively.

Jenny blushed so deeply that the blood in her face was ready to pour from her nose at any moment. She stuttered until she couldn’t take it anymore and fled the room, slamming the door in her wake. Ed could hear her squeal with delight as she went. Looking up to the man still standing in the room, the lieutenant colonel held up one hand. “Before I even comment on that, let me work this last piece out first.” Mustang could flirt all he wanted, but as long as the day ended with Mustang flirting with him, he had no problems. Besides, he didn’t want Mustang changing anything about himself to please Ed. He wasn’t a girl and he had no real reason to act like one in this instance.

Shrugging and still feeling smug Mustang crossed the room to Edward and leaned over him to see what he was working on. He smiled at the symbols, lines, patterns and lettering that made up the designer array. It was an impressive piece of work. Edward truly was a genius. When completed this array would allow them to trap forces behind massive walls of ice and snow. It was tactical instrument just in case they were cornered or in case they wanted extra protection. Currently Edward was mumbling to himself about a certain symbol that he needed to place. He checked his books, equations and notes and he just couldn’t figure it out. Tilting his head to the side Mustang grabbed one of the pens nearby and quickly penciled in the symbol near the center of the circle under one of the collapsible lines.

Ed sat back shocked, angered and appalled that Mustang had just done that. No one, not even Al touched his work. No one dared to. Ed considered himself to bit logical but a bit of an artist when it came to transmutation circles and arrays, for someone to alter what he had already done was enough to make him scream and stomp around like a monster for days. To make matters worse it was the perfect place to put it. Looking up into the other’s face he narrowed his eyes. “How did you do that?” That symbol had been plaguing him for a while and in five minutes Mustang had walked in and solved it.

Shrugging the elder stood back up and smiled. “Despite the fact that I sit behind a desk now, I did study alchemy for a very long time with plenty comprehension. I admit that fire is my element, but I am still knowledgeable on plenty of subjects.”

Smiling to himself Edward shook his head. Quickly he stood and gave Mustang a quick kiss on the lips. “Did you need something?”

“I wanted to catch you before you went to lunch with Al.”

Shaking his head Edward pulled Mustang to the floor. Quickly, without warning he laid down and motioned for Mustang to do the same. Usually when he was tired after working on something for a long time he often laid on the floor and took a breather for his eyes and for his head. It was his way of grounding himself. “Al has exams. He left a note on the fridge for me this morning when we stopped to change my clothes. He is going to study through lunch. So I am here to suffer through my boredom with you.”

Smirking as he laid down and relaxed Mustang shrugged. “I suppose that’s not a bad thing.”

“Don’t you have work to do?” Ed said gently. He was joking of course.

“Not really. The Fuhrer was quite impressed that we worked through all of that paperwork in one day. I am practically off the hook today.” Not really. He had a few more things to finish, but it wasn’t anything that he couldn’t take care of in a pinch.

“Right.” Ed rolled his eyes.

They settled into silence for a while. Ed was content to close his eyes and enjoy the feeling of not being alone in his office all day. Roy did the same. After about ten minutes, they both realized that they were lapsing into the awkward side of things. Taking a calm breath Roy looked over at Edward and sighed. “You know we have to talk a few things through.”

Edward looked away from the gaze on him and shrugged. “Can we not?”

“No.” Sex, physical contact and waking up in the morning together was good but if they didn’t talk about the stuff that was really an issue, the stuff that would ultimately affect them both, how were they supposed to work? “Please Ed.”

Rolling over top of Roy now, Edward settled himself in Roy’s lap, straddling him. At the motion Roy looked angry for a moment, but Ed silenced him with a kiss. Looking into darkened blue eyes Edward reached down and ran his hands over the General’s chest. “You won’t let this go will you?” He didn’t want to hear why this wouldn’t work between them. He didn’t want to hear why things weren’t meant to last. The only thing he wanted to hear was Roy moaning, and saying his name in the morning.

Roy smiled and shook his head. Reaching for Ed’s thighs he traced the shape of them through Ed’s uniform. “I won’t always be able to come down and see you and I won’t always be able to stay the night with you in my bed.” His fingertips paused over the automail leg before he smiled and traced it with twice the determination. Looking into Ed’s eyes he already knew he was losing the blonde. Taking his hand he tugged to get his eyes to focus. “Bear with me.” The blonde nodded. “I want you to know how I feel about you Ed.”

The blonde shrugged. He was starting to feel like everything was going downhill. He wasn’t expecting this. He wanted the feeling of discovery like he had last night. Looking down at Roy he made eye contact. If he had to listen to this he was not going to be happy about it. “I don’t even know why you like me. We never got that far last night.”

Mustang laughed. His hands moved behind him where he sat up, Edward slid further into his lap and he resisted the urge to repeat what they had the night before. Instead he brought one hand to Ed’s face and slowly traced his jaw. “You have no idea how beautiful you are, do you?” Fullmetal’s eyes widened and he shook his head. “I thought not.” Roy murmured fast. With a deep breath to keep his desire in check Roy went on. “I can start here.” He touched his lover’s stomach. “You’re toned,” he murmured. “A body like yours, despite the fact that it has seen its fair share of battle, is rare to come by.” He hands travelled down to Ed’s thighs and back up again. Now he unbuttoned the white shirt beneath the blue uniform and sighed as he saw tan skin. “I wish I could spend days on this, but I am running on a limited amount of time.” Leaning over he kissed Edward’s revealed collar bone. “Your skin is the color of sand, smooth as water washes over it and bronzed like you tan constantly, but this is too perfect to be unnatural.” Kissing the collarbone one last time Roy smiled as Ed’s head fell back and he moaned. His breathing had already turned shallow, his fingers twining in Mustang’s hair. Mustang mimicked the action, this time his fingers reaching to pull the tie from Ed’s hair. “I’ve been aching to touch your hair for a while now. It’s soft naturally and you take care of it. It’s like strands of bright silk.” Edward leaned into the feeling of Mustang’s fingers in his hair. He groaned as the General pressed his nose into the locks and breathed deep. “This morning I swear to you I was indulging myself a little more than necessary, but I couldn’t help it.” Now his fingers outlined Edward’s lips, nose, jaw and cheekbones. “You’re not unattractive, not in the slightest. In fact I have seen more than a few watching you with interest. I am glad I got to you first, especially because you’ve been the source of my anguish for so many years now.” Eyes now bright with lust, Ed smiled gently, his lips meeting Roy’s in appreciation. As he pulled away, Roy smiled and finally, his one good eye met Edward’s. “What really made me toss and turn in my bed at night were those eyes of yours, molten gold, inhuman and fiery. Despite the fact that I am knowledgeable on the element, there is a fire in your eyes that keeps me on edge and makes my breath go still.” This time as Edward’s head dipped back he traced the exposed skin of Edward’s neck with his lips. “What intrigues the most about you is your mind Edward.” His voice dipped lower. “You are a mystery to me and so few things are. It’s not that I want just your body, believe me I do.” There was a moan in his ear. Edward rocked onto his lap further and before long Roy heard his name in his ear. “But I want every bit of you. You are my Leto, my Sun God.” The blonde groaned and rocked on him again, his hands dug into Mustang’s hair, his fingers quickly pushing the eye patch back and kissing his way down Mustang’s face. Getting a hold of himself before he was lost Mustang tipped Edward’s head so he could look into his eyes. His lover focused for just a minute. “Don’t mistake my feelings Ed. I want you, all of you, you don’t need to tell me what you want from me, but I will be there for you the best I can.”

Ed smiled. He had not expected what Mustang gave him. In fact it left him speechless; it left him aching inside for him. As he finished explaining his feelings he smiled and kissed Roy deeply. His mouth opened, allowing the other to sweep his mouth with his tongue. He didn’t want to reveal why he felt so attracted to Mustang just yet. He would when he felt the time was right, for now he wanted to bask in the glow of the fact that someone wanted him like this. Someone loved him and needed him in a way that didn’t involve just his body, abilities or brain individually. Mustang wanted all of him the way he was because deep down there was an understanding, an understanding of anything and everything that made up their lives. Pulling back, Roy’s tongue slipping out of his mouth, Edward smirked and pressed their foreheads together. “You are such a girl.”  

Laughing, Mustang nodded his head. “Add that to another list of things I love about you. You know how to make me talk like a girl.”

Ed grinned and pressed their lips together again. As their mouths crashed Edward thought that this had been the perfect way to spend their lunch break. 


	6. Surprise!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ed is upset with Roy, Not because of something he did, but something he didn't remember, his birthday.

**~Beautiful~**

Chapter 6: Surprise!

 

 

Ed looked up as the door opened. Roy walked in and hung his coat on the coat rack. After a moment he looked over to his lover and smiled. He went to speak and Edward closed his eyes calmly, closed the book he was reading and got up to move towards the window. Crossing his arms the blonde stared through the glass with vehemence. He had been angry at his lover for the last few days now. It wasn’t over anything major, well not by anyone else’s standards, but it still had hurt Edward’s feelings.

Roy had forgotten his birthday.

Edward knew he was being a bit selfish. Roy was working hard. He had just gotten back from a mission in the East, but still, everyone had remembered his birthday except the one person that had really mattered to Edward. Yes, Al and all of his friends from work celebrated with him, even Winry made a surprise visit and celebrated with them over cake that Gracia insisted on making. It had been a festive day and Edward knew that Roy hadn’t been able to get away from work, but when he came home, Ed hadn’t gotten anything. No words were exchanged. Roy just ate dinner and went to bed.

It wasn’t like hadn’t waited for it. He waited for four days to see if Mustang would say anything. He tried to even drop hints about it just to see if he would notice that Winry was in town, that Gracia made a cake and other obvious crap. Mustang just smiled, nodded his head and never caught on.

Finally, Ed couldn’t take it anymore. He threw in the towel and decided that being mad at Roy worked better than him trying to drop hints. Now, as Roy walked in, he couldn’t help it. Part of him just said to walk out and then let Roy wonder, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Then, at his thoughts he cursed himself for being such a girl about all of this.

“Hey.” Mustang wrapped his arms around Edward’s middle and kissed his shoulder. He smiled into sun kissed hair and breathed in the scent that was uniquely Edward.

“Hey.” Ed said drably. He moved away from Roy’s touch at first, but he wanted to remain there. He didn’t want to complicate things with something as stupid as a birthday forgotten, but then again he used to go years without ever celebrating it, Al too. During their young years it was important to them both not to really celebrate until they got their bodies back but now that things were going well for the two of them, birthdays had become important. They were a celebration of success, it was a reminder that they could finally live again.

Humming in his lover’s ear Mustang smiled to himself. He knew Edward was upset, but he had let it go on. It made things better for what was yet to come. “Is there something wrong? You’ve been on edge all day.” He feigned innocence.

He should have spilled his guts just then. Especially with Mustang holding him the way he liked to be held. He wasn’t held delicately, he was held with ferocity that showed just how much Roy cared and how much he understood the strength in Ed’s body. Instead Ed shook his head. His lover seemed to be in a really good mood, he didn’t want to ruin it. “No. It’s nothing.”

Nearly grinning Mustang took hold of Edward’s shoulders and turned him around. Peering into golden eyes he shook his head. “You’re lying.” Edward had become somewhat reserved over the years but his eyes constantly held fire, the depth of that fire was always a dead giveaway to just how strong his feelings were in that moment. The grin on Roy’s face didn’t disappear; instead he petted Ed’s hair before gripping it in his hand and smashing their lips together.

At the feeling Ed tried to back away, he pushed on Mustang’s chest, but before long he was stuck. Ed didn’t always admit it, but he liked not being in control when he and Mustang had sex. It wasn’t that he was submissive by nature, hell no, it didn’t matter where they had sex, Edward always gave Mustang one hell of fight for it, it was just that he enjoyed being put back in control by all the choices being taken from him. Like now, despite the fact that he was fighting with Mustang, trying to shove him away, it didn’t take much before he was aroused and giving into the way his lover shoved him against the window and shoved his tongue so far down Ed’s throat that the Fullmetal didn’t know if he would be able to breathe for a minute.

Pulling away as Edward settled Roy licked his lips and smiled seductively. “You really shouldn’t lie Ed. It never ends well.”

The blonde in question shivered as the window pane pressed into his back. He didn’t know how to answer that, especially when he was sure his eyes were dark with passion and he was gripping Roy’s shoulders hard enough to leave bruises. All the while his lover remained perfectly in control, eyes lilted in the way that Ed loved, hands already making their way to the hem of his shirt.

As his shirt was lifted above his head, Ed groaned at the impossibility of this situation. It was dead set that his anger was on the back burner. Instead he was about to be thrown into some of the most amazing sex he had ever had and he had no qualms. It sometimes made him angry how easily Roy thwarted his plans, like being mad for another week.

Grinning as his lover simply bit into his lip, his eyes dark and cloudy, Mustang stepped back and undid the buttons on his shirt. Throwing it to the floor after a moment he reached for his lover again, this time palming the bulge in his leather pants with a calm smile. Beneath his touch, Ed shivered and let out unintelligible sounds that were so uniquely him. It always gave Roy a superior feeling that Edward was putty in his hands, literally. Moving to his knees now, Roy undid Edward’s zipper, slowly and before long he saw what he wanted.

When he first found out that Edward often didn’t wear undergarments unless the weather called of it, Roy had been both turned on and utterly dumbstruck. For all the years he had known Ed, he hadn’t realized that he was without underwear for the longest time. It made him wonder what other things he had missed that would give him better access to the body that made him go weak with animalistic hunger.

“Oh God.” Ed’s head fell back, banging against the glass as Mustang worked his incredibly hot mouth over his erection, swallowing him down to the hilt. He almost saw stars for a moment. Roy didn’t blow him often. Edward did most of that, mainly because he enjoyed seeing Mustang lose it under the pressure of his manhood being taken again and again to the base. When the General did go down on him, it was more than an experience, it was an awakening.

Reaching around to Ed’s thighs, Mustang lifted his lover up to sit on his shoulders and let the tip of Edward’s manhood touch the very back of his throat. At the feeling he listened in utter rapture as Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist and Alchemist of the people let out a near scream. It was cut off mid-way, his hands going to cradle the back of Mustang’s head and cover his own mouth.

Edward was a vocal person in bed. Mustang had feared it would be the opposite, simply because he wanted to make sure that everything he did made Edward go rigid. He had nothing to worry about though. Edward was loud. He screamed, cried and moaned at every given opportunity. When he was truly enjoying something he often was speechless. That was one of Roy’s favorite moments, when he made Ed so wanton and willing that he literally could not speak, he couldn’t get anything past his lips. It was a new high every single time.

Ed arched his back as his orgasm hit. He had not been expecting it. It had built to a certain point and then he was too delirious to really recognize it until he was bent against the window pane, his hands gripping Mustang’s hair and his teeth biting into metal. The cry he had worked on letting past his lips didn’t come through properly, it was bitten off as he saw white and flashing behind his eyelids. As he came down, his legs being let go so his feet could return to earth he looked down and instantly thought it was a mistake. Roy was there, a line of cum slowly making its way down his chin, his hands already working to get out of his own pants and the other pulling on Ed’s so that they fell around his ankles. As dark eyes turned to look up at him, Edward gulped. He was in for it. Roy was looking at him with that gaze that told him to either bend over or get ready for something that would leave him sore and unconscious.

Standing, Mustang finally managed to get his pants undone so that they slid off his hips and he could kick them away. Using on hand he opened his mouth and let the essence of his lover fall into his palm. Looking to the other his eye tightened. “Turn around.”

Ed swallowed hard again and did as he was told. His eyes however were on the purple tinted monster that stood against his lover’s stomach and the pool of still hot cum in his lover’s hand. “Roy?”

“Don’t talk.” Grabbing Ed by the shoulder’s Roy shoved Edward, slightly hard against the window. Automatically his legs spread, bracing his fall. Reaching roughly behind the other, he pressed one finger into Ed’s entrance, his lover arched against it before relaxing. Moving it quickly, too far gone for much caution, Roy added the second finger. He scissored fast, finding the spot in his lover that made him arch down and cry out. Finally he added the third finger and Ed said his lover’s name under his breath. Roy bit back his own groans. While Edward was the type to lose control, Roy prided himself on being in control, yet he was near his limit already and he hadn’t even shoved himself into his lover yet. No one besides Ed had made him go that far. Edward had been the only one to ever make him so crazy with passion that he was rushing for his completion.

Ed took as many deep breaths as he could. He was already too far gone. Roy was too good. Even fingering was just too much. It sent him into shock; it made his spine crash with pangs of excruciating pleasure. What was more, he realized what Roy was using for lubricate. It hadn’t clicked watching Roy’s lips part and semen drip into his hand. Now as he felt fingers moved roughly within him he shook his head at the utter sexiness of it. Roy had blown him specifically for his pleasure and for lubrication.

Pulling away when he believed his lover to be ready, Roy used what remained of Edward’s essence to prepare himself. He could have come after the first stroke, but he resisted, holding back still he was readily able and finally he grabbed Edward by the shoulders and without wasting any time shoved himself into the tightest and hottest place he had ever been. It always amazed Roy that Edward was so tight and so hot that he had to actually regroup from entering him. It amazed him that every single time they had sex, it was always like the first time.

After burying himself inside till he was balls deep inside of his lover Roy paused. He waited until he felt Ed’s breath expel and his hips grind back with earnest and then, like he was commanded Roy pulled back and slammed inside again. At the thrust Ed’s back arched, his hands went to brace himself on the glass and he cried out deliciously. This was always their favorite part of sex. The foreplay was amazing, even the oral sex was incredible, but actually being connected, their bodies moving in sync and responding without their real direct knowledge was the greatest thing that ever happened to either of them. Before long, their bodies began the familiar dance, Roy slamming himself forward and Edward bracing himself, crying out for his lover, trying to keep himself upright.

Edward tried to keep his eyes open. He vaguely realized that the curtain wasn’t drawn on the window. At any moment someone could see him in the window, being fucked hard by his lover and enjoying every single second of it. A thrill ran through him at the thought. What if someone did see them? What if someone walked by and in that moment watched as the general who was being considered as the next Fuhrer, screw a man and not only bring the man to climax, but climax as well. Edward bit into his lip as his cries began to stop in his throat. He shook his head at the exhibitionist in him. He hadn’t realized how deviant he was sexually until Mustang began screwing him on a daily basis.

Pulling out of Edward, Mustang turned him around, lifted his hips and smashed him against the window again. As the blonde wrapped his legs around Mustang’s waist, still cognizant enough to remember that much Mustang grinned and slammed himself back in. The window shook and made sounds that implied it was near breaking as the General drove into his lover over and over and over again.

Now as they neared their climaxes Mustang leaned back and stared into Edward’s face. One of the things he loved about being with Ed was that during sex he made the most exquisite expressions when he was near orgasm. Like now, his face was scrunched up, his eyes screwed shut and his teeth biting into his lower lip, nearly drawing blood. He was so out of control and so in raptured that Mustang knew only one word to describe him and that word was Beautiful. Fire pooled in the pit of his stomach and before long Mustang gave his final thrusts, one hand snaking between them to squeeze the base of Edward’s cock, slowly bringing it to the tip and they both saw white.

Mustang was the first to recover. They had crashed to the floor. Ed was against the wall still, his legs spread open and his chin to his chest as he breathed heavily through sweat and the smell of sex. His bangs were sticking to his face, his eyes still closed, but a smile working into a full on grin. Mustang had landed on his knees, his body and Edward’s already separated. Pushing the bangs from his lover’s face, his own hanging in his eyes heavy with sweat Mustang leaned in a got a gentle kiss.

When Roy pulled away Edward shook his head. His mind was foggy, hazy with exhaustion. “Damn you.” He smiled and looked into Roy’s face. “That was just plain uncalled for.” But he loved every minute of it. It had been amazing. Roy may have been an older man, but he knew how to deliver.

Grinning Roy stood, slightly wobbling on his feet and gave his lover a help up after. Pulling Ed close he nuzzled the other’s neck, enjoying the feeling of his damp hair brush against his face. “Come take a bath with me.” He had a habit of, not cuddling, but some type of contact after sex.

Edward shivered as hot breath gusted over his sweaty skin. If it weren’t for the fact that he was sure he wouldn’t recover for another hour he would have asked his lover to take him again. His voice alone was enough to make Ed want Roy. “Yeah sure.”  

Roy took Edward’s hand and all but dragged him upstairs to the bedroom.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Running a towel over his hair, Ed let out a sigh. He had forgotten he was mad, even now as he stood in the bathroom and squeezed water from his hair the only thing he could do was smile. He was always happy after sex. It was one of his favorite parts of his and Roy’s relationship. Roy gave into his needs and Ed’s and while they both enjoyed just talking or sitting together, the sex was a whole new level of wonder and amazement. Pushing open the door now Edward looked for his lover, he felt the overwhelming urge to kiss him. He paused as he saw their bedroom empty.

The towel dropped to hang around Ed’s shoulders as he looked for Mustang. What he found made him blush deeply. There were rose petals leading out the door. A single candle lit up the door way. Ed couldn’t believe this. What the hell was Mustang planning? Dropping the towel to the bed Ed pulled on his clothes from before and quickly chased the petals.

He followed them down the stairs; every five feet another candle lit the path, leading him to what Ed expected to be the dining room. Instead they went to the basement door. Another lone candle was lit, lighting the steps, which were also covered in rose petals. He took to the steps and was led to the library in the basement that Mustang rarely used anymore. Standing there, in a white shirt and slacks was Roy. He held a single rose in his hand and behind him was a table set up for dinner, a candelabra held another set of five candles on the table with a meal already served.

As Ed reached the last step Mustang held out one hand to him. “About time. Do you know how long it takes you to dry your hair?”

Ed swallowed for a minute. He shook his head at the question before turning to the other. “You realize I’m not a girl.” He didn’t think candle lit dinners and roses were his thing. The worst part was that he thought it was sweet. Looking at the other he deflated at the look on Mustang’s face. He was looking at him thoughtfully, like he was in love with everything that Ed had just said. Breathing deep the blonde resigned himself. Roy was doing something special for him; he didn’t need to ruin it. “This is really nice though.” He walked over to Roy who gave him the rose. “What is all this anyway?”

Smirking Roy held Edward close and breathed in the smell of his shampoo. “Happy belated birthday.”

Edward pushed Roy away, his eyes wide. The bastard did remember. He had waited for some reason though. Suddenly Ed felt horrible. He had been thinking terrible things about his lover for the past few days and to think, all the while Roy had been planning and waiting for the perfect moment. “You remembered?” Ed wanted to smack himself. That last line was defiantly him turning into the girl.

Laughing now Roy nodded. “Of course I did. I’ve known since you were twelve. I wanted you to have fun with your friends and brother the day of, it’s just that your birthday kind of coincides with...” He pulled something else out and this time he watched as Edward’s eyes went wide before he slapped a hand to his forehead. Roy handed the box to Edward and smiled. “Our anniversary.” It had been five months exactly. Roy thought that it was a good idea to mix the two celebrations together.

Snatching the box now Edward stuck a tongue out at Mustang. Now _he_ forgot. Not that he was really counting. Anniversaries had never come up in his other relationships and the fact that now they were celebrating one, it made Ed feel both accomplished and utterly warm in the inside. He should have known looking back on it. Roy, as lazy as he was at times, would never forget his birthday. He was too sweet natured to do that. Everything held some type of symbolism for him so why wouldn’t their anniversary and Ed’s birthday? It would be a cold day in hell before that happened. Sighing he placed the objects on the table and grabbed Roy by the shirt collar, yanking him into a kiss. Letting go he smiled. “Thank you.”

Looking down at the table Roy smiled at his triumph. He knew about Ed’s anger over his birthday supposedly being forgotten. But he would never forget. Edward’s birthday was bigger than any holiday; it was the day that Ed was born. It was the day that his love came into the world. He had to make sure to treat it better than anything else. “Come on; let’s not let the food get cold.”

“Speaking of which,” Ed took a seat, placing the rose and the gift aside for later. “When did you do all of this?” Steak, potatoes, a salad, quiche, chocolate cake for dessert and wine, there was just so much food, there was no way Roy could have done this behind his back.

“Gracia was kind enough to do some of the cooking.” She had known about the whole plan from the start. It was one of the reasons she invited Ed to her home on his birthday. She was planning on keeping him distracted about Roy’s absence and then later help him set up so that Edward’s true surprise was perfect. “She had someone drop all of this off while you were still upstairs.”

Ed hung his head. “I really need to dry my hair faster.” He couldn’t believe that Gracia had been in on all of this. Picking up his fork and knife he cut a piece of meat and put it in his mouth. As he chewed he figured he would have to do something nice for her, the damn steak was one of the most delicious things he had ever had. “Who else was in on this?”

Eating at his plate slowly Roy shrugged. “Al, Gracia, my entire team…pretty much everyone.”

“And you let me stew over all of this for four days? I nearly exploded!” Ed murmured around potatoes. “That is just plain evil.”

Chuckling lightly Roy grabbed the wine bottle and poured them both a glass. “It’s better when you are blinded by something. You can be angry at me all you want, but once I pull out all the stops, you have no chance.” 

Ed grumbled to himself that it wasn’t true when deep down he knew it was. Roy was too good at times. His experience aided him better when it came to romance. Ed wasn’t all that good at it and it never occurred to him to be, but it was okay, because Roy was meant to be that way, not him. He was too rash to ever come up with anything like this. “This is really good.” That would be his only concession.

After dinner Edward found himself in Roy’s lap, thanking him with teasing kisses and roaming hands. Roy returned his gesture in kind, his hands wound in blonde hair, his hands already pulling their hips closer together as their need resurfaced. However, if they did have sex again Roy figured he wouldn’t get the chance to give Ed his last surprise for the night. After a little while Roy pulled away and put the box from earlier into his lover’s hands.

“Open it.”

Ed shook his head. Dinner was enough. He didn’t need anything else. However, Roy would not rest until he did. So he complied and began tearing at the perfectly wrapped gift. After he got to the box and lifted the lid what he saw made him go still. He pushed himself from Roy’s lap, dropping the box on the table. He looked over to his lover who watched him with utter concern.

“Roy no.” The gift was the original journal of Nicolas Flamel. It was the very original, it wasn’t typed, it was written in his handwriting, his text, the very journal that was the rarest of rare alchemy books and it was the very book that bore the same symbol that Ed wore on his back. He had seen pictures of the book in journals and archives. It disappeared years ago from a museum or something in southern Amestris. Upon learning of the journal, Ed knew he needed to find it, simply because of the symbol. Ed came from the line of Flamel, his teacher and her teacher before her all bore the same symbol. But this book was worth more than his and Roy’s entire salary put together. Ed had been itching to just get an excerpt of the book for years now and now the journal sat right there on the table. Ed turned away as tears welled in his eyes. The dinner had been enough, the rose petals, the sex, that had all been perfect, but that book…no, he would not let Roy do that to him. “I can’t accept that.”

“Yes you can.” Roy crossed the room and wrapped his arms around his lover’s waist. Holding Ed tight even as he didn’t reciprocate Roy smiled happily. “You most definitely can.”

Ed shook his head pulling away again. “No! That book…it’s his…it’s the only surviving journal in his hand writing, in his encryption.” No one had ever really gotten a chance to find all of Flamel’s journals. Most of them were lost after his death, but there had been a few surviving ones, they were in displays and untouchable to the public unless they wanted to read a typed copy of it. “You don’t get it, its’ too expensive, too valuable. You shouldn’t spend that kind of money on me.” He didn’t get why Roy had to be so damn perfect. He probably wouldn’t be able to get mad at him for years now.

Roy smirked and shrugged. He would spend that kind of cash if he wanted to. It didn’t matter to him, Ed was worth it. In this instance that wasn’t the case though. “What if I told you I got it for nothing?”

“Impossible!” Ed shook his head. There was no way in hell Roy had found that for nothing.

Shrugging again Mustang smirked, his easy smile in place. “Dante, your teacher’s master, she had a collection of books in her old home on that island. Many of them were older, untouched and obviously very rare. After inquires I also found that she had a depository beneath the house left over from the times that she and Hoenheim were together.” Looking back at the table he smiled mysteriously. “That book has an inscription; I think you should read it.” Grabbing the other’s hand Roy pulled Ed to the table and carefully took the book out of the box before he could say no. Turning to the final page Roy held it out for Edward to read.

 

It said:

            _To Hoenheim, for your son._

_NF_

 

Ed’s eyes went wide. His father had known Nicolas Flamel. It must have been from the time when Envy was created. From when Hoenhiem’s first son had died. The secrets for human transmutation had to be in that book. This was the book that began the fasciation for living forever within Dante and his father. This book was the beginning of so many dominos that fell reaching to Edward and Alphonse trying to bring their mother back. Ed’s eyes went wide. That book, while he may never use it, was by far one of the most important things in the history of his family.

His eyes didn’t stray from the book. He was practically in awe. “How did you convince them to let you keep this?”

Roy shrugged. “You are, after all, the sons that Hoenheim recognized and cared for. It does say his name and his son. It’s ultimately your decision on how to use it.” He remembered when he first found it after supervising the exploration of Dante’s house. He had had that book from after Ed left to the other side of the gate, the second time. He had not thought of it till he began planning for Edward’s birthday. He ran a hand over the cover with a slow smile. It made a good gift. Besides he had no use for it. Ed and Al would appreciate it far more than he ever would.

“Put the damn book back in the fucking box Roy.”

The General looked up at Edward’s aggressive tone. He didn’t think he would be angry with him or be so adamant that he couldn’t keep. But as soon as he went to say something he was silenced by a hungry kiss. Edward forced his tongue into Mustang’s mouth, exploring it with all the energy and then some from earlier. Ed wormed the book gently from Roy’s hands and placed it in its box. Still kissing his lover he pulled back, grinned and quickly tackled Roy to the ground.

Roy looked up as Ed settled in his lap, his hands ripping at the elder’s shirt. After he managed to get it off he looked at Roy, leaned in for another kiss and grinned. “Happy Anniversary.” 


	7. A Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Its been a year since Ed and Roy have gotten together and now they are looking to seal their lives together. For them this means a house and Ed meeting the one true woman in Roy's life.

**~Beautiful~**

Chapter 7: A Home

 

 

“What don’t you like about this one?” Mustang smirked as Edward opened the basement door and pointed. The stairs were ripped in half. What remained of them were rotted and ready to fall apart.

The blonde shook his head. There was no way in hell he was going to live in a place with stairs like that. He could fix it with a simple clap of his hands, but at the same time, this place felt too small, too enclosed. “The kitchen is too small and the bedroom,” He looked back at Roy with indifference as the other simple stood back and smiled at him. “The bedroom walls are too thin. I can tell that by just touching them. Our neighbors would be calling the police every night dealing with us.”

It had been a year since he and Roy had spent their first night together. In that amount of time Edward and he had spent a while, just dating. They kept most of their sexual desire on the back burner for a while. Then it just got out of control and before long they were screwing everywhere they possibly could. Once the newness of the love making was over they settled for having sex mostly in the bedroom, or on the couch, or in Roy’s office, or in Edward’s office or the kitchen table, which was reserved for their fights, when the two of them had to make up. The list of places they did have sex was a little extensive. At least they weren’t screwing in public restrooms like they used to, although, they would have to try that again. The thrill had been worth every second. They also came out publically about their relationship. So far they hadn’t had too much of a backlash. Mustang still kept his same morals and stated that Edward was a choice he was proud to say went with everything that made up him as a person. Edward was questioned about trying to sleep his way to the top, however that was thrown out the window when not only many vouched for him, but when he turned down a promotion for Colonel in favor of remaining in the research department instead of a designated laboratory. Things changed for the better when Fuhrer Grumman openly acknowledged their relationship as one of the strongest he had ever seen.

About six months after their relationship took off the two of them had spent so much time together that quite literally Edward had moved in without his own knowledge. It started with toothbrushes, extra underwear and a few books. From there it evolved till he had pictures, clothes and groceries in the house with him. Soon, he was barely spending anytime at his apartment at all. Not long after his brother chose to move into the dormitories at his university and then the apartment was put up to be rented elsewhere. Al hadn’t really been surprised about the move, nor had he really cared. In fact he had wanted to move into the dorms. He wanted to be closer to his university friends and he wanted to be able to leave in a pinch if he had to and not run across the entire city to get to class. Needless to say it had worked out. The two of them still had lunch every single day. Neither of them were willing to lose contact completely.

Finally Mustang broached the subject of getting a house together. At first, Edward had fought it with everything he had. Not because they didn’t like the idea of living with his lover, it was just that at the same time he was a little frightened. It seemed utterly permanent when getting a house together was brought up. It was like once again losing his individuality. After an argument that ended with Edward finally screaming what his fears were Mustang, being as understanding as he could, dropped the subject and slowly introduced the idea over about a month. Then finally one day Edward was sitting around in the townhouse and he noticed just how much space they had which wasn’t much. Yes, there were tons of bedrooms, but the library was over flowing, the kitchen was tiny and the living room while comfortable didn’t look much like Ed as it did Roy. They needed a place that looked like the both of them, not just one. They needed a place where they could settle and be happy. When he and Roy had dinner that night he brought it up, the way Roy looked at him made Edward’s entire heart swell.

Even though Edward was fighting with a little bit of baggage, for the most part he found out just how compassionate he was becoming, especially when it came to the General. Mustang was strong and possessive in the bedroom that was just the way he was. Of course he had the moment when he showed love in their bed, but it was different when it was the two of them together. He was sentimental at times and often did things simply because he knew they pleased Ed. He was also careful to make sure he and Edward communicated, not on every subject but the ones that concerned the two of them together. What was more was that Edward didn’t mind spending as much time as he could with Mustang. In fact he looked forward to it. At the end of the day they had a routine, dinner, coffee, time on the couch, maybe sex if they weren’t too tired and sleeping together in Roy’s bed. The morning wasn’t too different. After separate showers, which was a calculated move due to the fact that they both loved shower sex, they had breakfast, coffee and together they rode to work. When their routine was broke for some reason either they were worried, or they were anxious. When Edward had to go abroad for research or Mustang was sent on some sort of mission often times the two of them could barely stand to be apart. They called, sent letters and before either left, they quickly ran home and indulged in the one thing that sealed them together. Edward didn’t know he could be content in a relationship like this. He had time to himself, but he loved the fact that he didn’t want to be alone too often. Roy was the one who filled that void. He was a mature steady kind of lover that made Edward feel like everything was the way it was meant to be.

“I suppose that is something we need to take into account.” Smiling Mustang shrugged. This had been perhaps the fourth house they had been to. Edward had not liked any of the ones they had seen so far. Usually the blonde knew within a few moments if he didn’t like it. He was forced mostly to go with Roy inside to take a closer look. After the third house Roy was worried that Edward was picky with the houses because he wasn’t ready for the step, but after being told he was an idiot he quickly let the subject drop.

Ed turned and sighed. “I am not always a huge fan of military housing, but they could at least make the place a little less like a dump.” Looking at the General as he spaced out Edward sighed. He could admit that he was picky and he was sure he was worrying Roy, but he had his reasons. He wanted a house that fit. He wanted a house that was the two of them. “Hey.” Edward walked over to his lover and took his hand. At the feeling Mustang smiled. “Come on, we have another one to look at. Maybe this will be it.”

Roy allowed himself to be tugged out. The next one probably wouldn’t be it either. However, he knew Edward’s reasoning for being as picky as he was.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Do I really have to do this?” Edward looked up at the bar and shivered. He had been avoiding this for the last few months.

Chuckling, Mustang wound his arms around Edward and traced shapes into the black shirt he was wearing. Looking up at the sign he kissed the other’s cheek. “She has been asking about you. I can’t keep you from her for long. She is not exactly a patient kind of woman.” Backing away he took Ed’s hand and dragged him into the bar.

“Roy!” About six or seven females jumped from their positions at the bar, with other patrons and behind the bar to rush up to Mustang and grabbed him into hugs and kisses.

Roy smiled at each woman, gave them hugs and laughed at their cries for attention. Edward just stood back and crossed his arms. It was no wonder Roy Mustang was known for womanizing. To grow up around a ton of woman who doted on him and spoiled him, Ed would have been surprised if he wasn’t a womanizer. After a minute the women noticed Roy’s blonde companion and like a light bulb went off Edward found himself swamped. Apparently they all knew of him as well. Ed narrowed his eyes at the older man as he winked and walked over to the bar where he took his seat. After a few minutes of introductions and giggles Edward was pulled over to the bar to sit next to Roy and to be eyed by a woman who Edward could quite literally say he was frightened of at first sight.

Madame Christmas was a gruff looking woman. She had a mole under her bottom lip and cigarette hanging from her mouth. As she spoke she put a brandy down on the counter from her foster son and then a beer for his guest. “So this is the pipsqueak?”

At the name Edward’s temper was triggered. “Who the hell are you calling pipsqueak old woman!”

She gave him a smile. “Oh excuse me; it took me a while to see you for a second. Most of the girls here are taller than you are.”   

“Are you picking a fight with me archaic hag!”  Edward pushed one sleeve up and held up his fist. Next to him Roy was laughing, sipping on his drink as he watched the fun.

“He is feisty.” Madame Christmas said as she turned back to Roy. “Thought I told you that you needed a nice quiet girl?”

Shrugging Roy touched Edward’s arm and pulled him back into his seat. “Sorry, the right girl hasn’t come along. Instead I got stuck with this one.”

Fullmetal turned on his lover fast. “Oh I didn’t hear you complain last night when we are scre-…” Roy wrapped an arm around the other, clamping a hand over his mouth. Mustang took a sip from his glass again like nothing was wrong. After a moment of struggling Edward bit down on the fingers at his mouth and grinned as he was let go. Looking to the woman behind the bar he rolled his eyes. “You might want to think about moving the furniture around. If we start fighting it could be the end of this place.”

“Oh my, he’s so strong.” One of the girls giggled and wrapped her arms around Edward’s. The blonde blushed for a moment before shrugging. He grabbed the mug in front of him and took a long sip.

Giving Edward a hoarse laugh Chris Mustang leaned over the bar and smirked. She had been asking about the blonde for a while now. In her son’s words Edward was a little frightened of meeting her. Why, she really had no idea. She was a nice woman when she wanted to be. “You can reframe from any of that. What you can tell me is why I haven’t met you before now?”

“Um…well…you see…” Edward babbled for a moment as the girls around him giggled and petting his hair as he spoke. He wasn’t used to this kind of contact. Nowhere close. Mustang only touched him like that when they were in bed together.

After a few more minutes of babbling Madame Christmas laughed again. “That scared huh?”

“Whoever said I was scared!” Edward puffed up again, only to be brought down when the old lady put her cigarette out and glared at him.

Calmly she brought out the gun she kept behind the counter and pointed it in his face. “I trust Roy’s common sense and all, but you hurt him I kill you, simple as that.” She put it away after Edward held his hands up and nodded furiously.

“No one can get him to be that tame except for me and his brother.” Roy laughed as he was given a glare. Leaning over he took the other’s hand and smiled. Edward just blushed and took another drink from his mug.

Madame Christmas lit another cigarette and smiled at the sight of her son and his chosen partner. She never would have guessed he had a thing for anyone of male populous, but just looking at Edward she could tell why he was in love. They fit well together. “Uh huh, I am sure he likes to be tamed.”

“What’d you say old woman!” 


	8. Tail Spin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ed and Roy have reached an impasse in their relationship, things have turned south and for the past few weeks they have been an odds and now it comes to its final epic turn as they will either have to make amends or lose one another forever.

**~Beautiful~**

Chapter 8: Tail Spin

 

What could he have done wrong? An entire year in this relationship, a year of ups, downs and a ton of arguments and yet here he was, sleeping in his office for what seemed like the umpteenth time. It had only been two weeks and it felt like an eternity. Sitting up in the fold out be he had acquired Edward ran a hand over his face. He needed coffee. He figured he had two choices, wait till the cooks arrived in another hour or make some himself. He had to lean toward the latter only because he figured he had to put something one his stomach that would last till he could get some food from the cooks. Groaning he grabbed a few things and headed for the bathroom next to his office.

In the two weeks that Edward hadn’t returned home he found that he was getting home sick. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to be there, it was just that he didn’t feel welcomed. It had been a month since they first started house hunting. They had gone through about fifteen houses and none of them Edward liked. It wasn’t that he was being terribly picky; he just didn’t imagine himself and Mustang in those places and when he told Roy, his lover began to doubt his sincerity and love. It didn’t help that he hadn’t said it yet. A year and living together and he had never said that he loved the General. Roy said it all the time. He said it gently and never expected Ed to say them back. On top of all of this Fuhrer Grumman had gotten sick. So sick that Roy was named acting Fuhrer. The stress of the job and the lackluster support at home was enough to make everything worse than what it was.

Everyone had tried to get Ed to be more supportive and to be patient with his lover, but he found that he couldn’t. It didn’t matter what he did, Roy found a way to blow it out of proportion. For a while Edward just took it. He figured it was just stress and after a while Roy would get used to the workload and just deal. As it were it didn’t work out that way. The fighting got more frequent. So much so that Edward was sleeping in another room just so that he didn’t have to face the arguments when Roy came home which was always in the middle of the night, usually at one or two in the morning. Soon they weren’t talking at all. They got up at separate times, left the house, didn’t come home at the same time and saw each other less than two seconds a day.

Then the big fight happened. Roy brought up the house hunting again and blamed Edward for the fact that they hadn’t found one yet. Quickly he went to the fact that Edward wasn’t staying with him, supporting him and putting the trust in him that he wanted. Ed tried to explain that he wanted him there when they were looking for a place and that he did support and trust Roy with everything he had and it was true. It was just that he couldn’t take Roy blaming him for everything. He couldn’t deal with his lover looking at every little detail and taking his own issues out on him. He loved Roy he really did, but he was not going to roll over and play dead so Mustang could kick at him. Before Ed knew what was going on, he packed up some of his stuff and ran out of the house.

He hadn’t even seen the General in the time he had been away. If there was mission or research handed down from him he often got it through Hawkeye or another one of Mustang’s team. Sometimes they would come in, linger and then tell him that he should really go and see Mustang, but he just waved them off. He had done nothing wrong and he refused to be the one to apologize.

Finally coming out of the bathroom Edward walked over to one of the lab tables and placed a beaker of water over the open flame. He walked back into his office to get dressed and came back out a moment later in his uniform. He had a coffee mug in one hand and quickly as the water began to boil he poured it over a filter filled with coffee grounds. A moment later he blew over the bubbling liquid and took a sip. The argument was still fresh in his mind after two weeks. He kept trying to go back over it and see what he could have done different to make everything better. As he sipped gingerly at his liquid breakfast he found that he couldn’t have done much. That night they had both been immovable walls:

_“Hey.” Edward looked up from the papers and books he had spread over the dining room table as Roy made his presence known. The blonde looked over at the clock; it was three in the morning. This was one of Roy’s later nights. Usually he was home by at least midnight. Whatever it was in the Fuhrer’s office that kept him busy was surely weighing on the time they had together._

_Roy didn’t greet his lover. Instead his eyes fixed on the dishes left over in the sink and the mess crowding the table. “I thought you would be in bed by now.” He ran a hand over his face. He knew that the job of Fuhrer came with paperwork, travelling and a ton of meetings; he hadn’t expected it to be forced on him so quickly. He was just getting into his role as a General. He was so tired now. He barely got any sleep and on top of that, he barely saw Edward. Things had gotten so bad lately, but what could he do? Not to mention that Edward was not helping. He spent all his time doing nothing and helping out around the house even less than that. Roy’s eyes settled on the current mess he had made. Roy was not planning on cleaning any of that up._

_Ed shook his head and took a sip from his coffee mug. He grimaced at the cooling gruel for a moment. He must have gotten focused and lost track of time. “I was fighting with a difficult equation earlier. Actually it has been fighting me the entire day. After I ate dinner I was kind of struck and I wanted to finish it out.” Looking up to his lover he gave him a tight smile. Their smiles at one another weren’t genuine any more. Just being in the same room was a little awkward. It had been weeks since they had actually sat down and really talked. But judging from the way Mustang ran a hand over his face and looked between the sink full of dishes and the mess of research Ed had out on the table, tonight was not a night to sit and talk. “You should get some rest. I won’t be done here for a while yet.” It wasn’t like it mattered. They weren’t sleeping in the same bed anyway._

_Roy nodded once. “Don’t forget to take care of the dishes please.” He turned and waved his hand as he walked out._

_“I always do.” Edward called. He eyes turned back to the books, scrap paper and circles in front of him._

_“And please don’t leave your stuff out on the table. I would like to sit down and not have to worry about dodging your mess in the morning.”_

_Ed’s eye twitched. It had happened once. Ed had been dog tired and when he finished that night he left it out with the sole purpose of cleaning it up the next morning and making sure it never happened again. Yet ever since he started doing a bit more work at home Mustang insisted on calling him out on it as often as he could. “Yeah, I get it.” He called._

_Suddenly the sound of footsteps on the stairs stopped. “Yes, well that doesn’t stop you does it?”_

_Edward let out a low groan. He might as well pack his things up. He shouldn’t have said anything. Now he was going to have to face a fight or something. “Look, just go to bed, I will be extra careful to clean up tonight.” He didn’t want to argue anymore. He was sick of it._

_“If only you could put that effort in every night, everything would be fine.” Mustang shot back fast. He was still standing on the steps. His eye had narrowed, his hands had stilled on the railing._

_Stacking pages and closing marked books Edward stood. “I don’t think that my mess is the problem Roy.” He couldn’t avoid the fight. If he said nothing the other would come back down the stairs anyway and chew him out for supposedly not listening._

_“Then what is it?” Mustang descended the stairs. He rounded back into the kitchen fast. “What is the real issue Edward?” He leaned against the door frame, dark gaze sharp with anger. “Is it your mess, your insubordination, my work, your work, lack of sex or communication? Are you purposefully trying to piss me off or are you still planning on sleeping in another bed to further distance us?”_

_Edward shook his head as he finished putting his work away. He placed it in his research case so that he could collect it in the morning. Now he went to the sink and started going through the dishes. He turned the water on and grabbed the sponge. “Would you like me to answer all of that now or give you a detailed report pertaining my **insubordination** Fuhrer sir?” They never used words like that with one another at home. Work stopped when they stepped out of the office. Yes, they may have brought papers home with them, but at home they were just Ed and Roy, not commanding officer and subordinate. _

_“Just what the hell is that supposed to mean?” Roy said, fists at the ready expecting a fight._

_“It means exactly what I said.” Ed retorted fast. He started soaping and scrubbing. The worst part was the there weren’t many dishes. One plate, pan, spoon, fork, knife and cup, that was all. Roy had acted like the entire kitchen had been destroyed._

_He was so sick of this. He was tired of being the adult in this relationship. For once he wanted Edward to grow up and do what he told him. But Ed had to be difficult; nothing could ever be simple and easy. “Yes, but I think I heard you wrong. Where the hell do you get off talking to me like that?”_

_Edward let the dishes he was cleaning fall back into the sink. Turning to Mustang he grabbed the dish towel and slowly began to dry his hands. “Since when did I stop being the guy you were in love with and turned back into your army dog?” That was the way he used to be spoken to when he and Mustang had arguments when they were younger. Key word for Edward was ‘younger.’ This was reserved for when he was a teenager with no respect for anyone but the people he had grown up with._

_Roy rolled his eyes. “Oh please. You are blowing this out of propor-…”_

_“I don’t think so.” Edward said fast. “You are arguing with me because we talked about my research on the table and dishes in the sink.” As Roy went to retort, Edward beat him to the punch. “And while we are on the subject Fuhrer,” He said the name with a sneer. “I am blowing this out of proportion because you are standing in our place together talking to me like I am some little kid. The last time I checked you never fucked me like I was one. In fact-…”_

_Roy stomped his foot. The sex comment had taken things too far, especially because they weren’t having any and hadn’t had any for a month. “First of all, this is **my** house! **Mine**! I let you live here, but you don’t want to get a house with me! You probably don’t even love me; you’re just stringing me long instead of letting me move on with my life. If you don’t want a house with me, that’s fine, but since you obviously can’t take care of one even if you are practically staying here for free it would be better if we didn’t get a place together at all!” _

_Edward was so taken aback by the words that he couldn’t say anything. He hadn’t found a house yet because he wanted the perfect house for them. He didn’t want anything run down, he didn’t want anything flashy or expensive, he wanted something that fit them, something that they could change if they wanted to suit their tastes. He wanted a house that told of their future together. Yes, he was picky, but that didn’t meant he was being picky because he didn’t want to get a place with Roy. There was no way in hell that he wanted that. He was in love, head over heels, he loved Roy nearly more than anyone in his life besides his brother. He knew he hadn’t said it, but it was hard, it scared the hell out of him, just like it did when Mustang talked about them getting a house together. Ed had tried to show him that he did care for him in his actions. He tried to give him the care and attention that anyone who was in love would give; but for him to accuse Edward of stringing him along…_

_Edward gritted his teeth. That was the last straw. Throwing down the towel he grabbed his briefcase and stormed out of the room. Behind him he heard Roy shouting. He was asking if it was true and the fact that he couldn’t answer confirmed it. He was rubbing salt in the wound he inflicted._

_Upstairs now, Edward grabbed a suitcase from the closet. He collected all the essentials and few changes of clothes. He could hardly work through the stinging in his eyes, but he refused to cry. He was too strong for that he thought. He wouldn’t give Mustang the satisfaction of practically breaking his heart. As he grabbed his bags he ran back down the stairs to see Mustang pacing in the living room._

_The General looked up as he came down. At first he was ready to say something else, but when he spied the bags in Edward’s hands he stopped cold. His eyes went wide and for the first time the weight of the argument they just had seemed to come to the forefront of his mind. “Where are you going?” He stepped forward, his voice suddenly growing concerned. One hand reached out and then lowered after further consideration. Roy had not thought that Ed would leave. They had had fights before. They went to bed angry, they didn’t talk for a while, but they didn’t leave._

_Ed shrugged. “Anywhere but here.” Golden eyes glared at Mustang as he neared the door. “You were right, this is your house.” Mustang looked like he was about to say something, but Edward cut him off. “If this is your house, then I am positive you can stand to be alone in it.” He opened the door and was out into the night. He knew he wasn’t going to Al, nor was he going to anyone else really. He decided on his office. It didn’t matter that he would have to walk there, just as long as he wasn’t suffocating in that house anymore._

_Behind him as the door slammed, he heard his name called, he ignored it and quickly ran down the stoop and the street, hoping for the distance to keep Mustang from coming after him. He knew what would happen if it didn’t keep him at bay. He would cave in and go back and now that he knew how Mustang felt deep down about their lives, he just couldn’t bring himself to do it._

“Lieutenant Colonel Edward Elric?”

Edward looked up, the memory of the fight fading, as Fuhrer King Grumman walked into the room. The blonde didn’t put down his coffee; instead he gave the other a nod of his head. “What brings you down this early in the morning Sir?” Taking a seat at the long table in front of him he leaned on one fist. “Would you like a cup?”

The king laughed. “No thank you, I gave the stuff up. According to my doctor it’s bad for my health.”

Edward nodded calmly. He talked to the Fuhrer all the time like this. The king treated him like a friend, not a subordinate. To most it was disrespectful, but it was an unspoken bond between the two that let Edward be himself around the Fuhrer. He knew to respect him in public with the proper conduct and terminology, but since he had just gotten up, the Fuhrer could get nothing out of him but indifference. “How is your health treating you? I thought you were going to be bed ridden for a while?”

The king took a seat at the end of the table, his guards standing nearby, but far enough back that they gave the Fuhrer some room. “I don’t think I will be kicking the bucket any time soon.” Taking a file out of the hand of one of his guards Grumman laid it down on the table. “I am actually here to request something of you.”

Edward stood and grabbed the file from the table. He looked it over as he sipped his coffee. “Chimeras?”

The king nodded. “You have more experience with them from what I hear. I need someone to go clean up a mess. Someone is playing god. We need you to find him and put a stop to it. Lethal force if necessary and you will be given a bonus for your troubles.”

“What about the specimens?” Edward closed the file and sat back down. He would finish it on the train ride.

“Destroy them.” Grumman said without hesitation. “We have outlawed the creation and use of them, so it is best that we nip this in the bud. You will be headed to West City to meet your assistant for this assignment there you will be sent to Pendleton, where we hear the problem has surfaced.”

Edward nodded. Finishing the cup he got up to fix another. “When do I leave?” He wasn’t putting up much of a fight. The reason being was that he wanted to get out of Central for a while. He also wanted to do the job just because of the nature of it. He would never turn down the opportunity to set something right that was obviously so wrong.

“Within the hour.” Grumman said cheerfully. “All expenses paid, train, hotel and medical bills if you happen to be injured.”

Edward let out a calm laugh. “If I am injured?”

The Fuhrer smiled and stood. His guards were there; ready to escort him from the room. “We hope that you are careful, but more than likely you won’t be. We have to make sure you are at your very best you know.”

Edward grumbled something under his breath as the water came to a boil. Nodding he looked at the Fuhrer and nodded once. “Always a pleasure Sir. I need to get my things together then. I also need a ride to the train station.” The Fuhrer nodded and waved. With that he was out of the room. Edward watched him go and then shook his head.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“He was what?” Mustang stood up in the chair, his hands coming down hard on the desk.

“He was sent west to Pendleton.” Hawkeye sighed. They had arrived in the office early only to hear the General throwing a fit. It wasn’t a fit that involved him throwing things around, it was more like him snapping at everyone that walked by. It was no secret that he and Edward weren’t getting along and it was only made worse when Mustang tried to find the Elric brother only to discover him missing. After she was ordered to Hawkeye discovered that he had been sent on a mission. “It is estimated that he will be gone for a little over a week.”

Mustang sat back down in his chair. He couldn’t believe this. He had finally decided to go to his lover and apologize for everything when suddenly out of nowhere he received this kind of news. He didn’t know what to do really. He had been a jerk for the past few months and he took it out on his lover. He should have never let that happened but he couldn’t help himself. So much stress on top of what was going on at home; it had all been so much.

In these last two weeks it made Mustang realize just how the position he wanted was going to affect him and his partner. He had taken badly to it, had made Edward bow down to him and made him crazy with his demands on their time, affection and communication. He had turned into a condescending ass with a fetish for nitpicking at everything. Edward had tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, but after a while it was pointless. Mustang’s stubbornness had won out and finally he pushed Edward to the edge where the blonde had all but moved out. Then finally the reprieve he had been waiting on. His position as acting Fuhrer was done and he could relax back into his old routine. Unfortunately the damage was done.

He didn’t know how he was going to make this up to his lover. In all honesty, he didn’t know if he could.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ed crouched down as he made his way underground. He heard something and he had to go and check it out. The guy he had been looking for was some type of hack scientist. He was also a murderer. It had not just been animals he was working with, he was using people. He started with children, but after seeing how the children adapted to innocence rather that violence he stepped up to adults and then back down to teenagers. When Ed first arrived, the guy tried to make it seem like he was doing great works, but from what Edward saw he knew it was the opposite. The sick freak took pleasure in the pain he caused. He liked to create new creatures because to him it was like he was god. He pounded the guy’s weak, wrinkled face in before he was handed over to his partner for the day. Then Edward took to destroying all the creatures he found. He counted thirty in all.

Edward looked down at his clothing and noted the blood was starting to stain the fabric. At first it had been hard to destroy the Chimeras. But after a while he tuned out as he did it, over and over and over again. He had been about to burn the house to the ground and all the research inside when something had caught his eye. It had been a door under a rug in the living room. Now he was in the basement, moving around avoiding looking at the arrays on the walls and blood smeared with them. It so sick that he used the blood left over from his failed attempts in order to draw his transmutation circles.

“Sir?”

Edward hissed at the person coming to check up on him. “Wait there!” Edward made his way further into the basement. As the light from outside hit it, he noticed a cage off to the side. It was about Edward’s height, iron bars and a pad lock on the door. Curious, he walked over and looked inside. There a young boy, around thirteen or so was huddled in the corner. He was filthy, underfed and skinny, Edward sighed. This kid had to be the next victim. Luckily they had gotten to him in time. Clapping his hands once Edward touched the lock and it disintegrated. Opening the door he looked over his shoulder to his partner. “Bring a blanket and some-…”

Suddenly he was knocked to the ground. The boy was on top of him and he didn’t look like a boy at all anymore. His skin was green, gills on the side of his neck and the pupils were narrow like a snake. The chimera had a tail and as he launched himself at Edward, the blonde noticed that the tail was spiked and razor sharp.

He dodged the first swing of the tail, the boy hissed at him. Then as the second was aimed at him, Edward landed on his back as uneven stone work tripped him up. The boy was there quickly, his nails digging into Edward’s arm as he climbed over top of him. He hadn’t been able to call for help; the air had been knocked from his lungs to fast.

Teeth were bared and Edward saw glistening fangs. He tried to clap his hands but the pure strength of the creature over top of him stopped him from moving. Even his automail was struggling to keep up with him. Edward pushed as hard as he could, trying to get back up, even as those same fangs bit down into his neck.

Edward could feel blood wetting his clothing and the floor. He bit off a scream as the chimera did it again, this time latching onto Edward’s arm. Luckily, it was the metal one. Edward quickly rolled over, pinned the beast with a kick and clapped his hands. As he brought them down on the lizard creature, blood and guts went everywhere.

Ed sat back, his breathing labored and his hands automatically going to the wound on his neck. He couldn’t tell which blood was his, but he did know he had lost a ton of it. He was getting light headed. Then he felt it, poison. The damn thing had been venomous. It was spreading through him; his limbs were starting to get heavy. Looking back to the entrance he tried calling for help, but the poison had already seeped into his throat and lungs. He didn’t know if anyone would find him before he passed out.

“Sir, the item-Shit!”

Edward fell over as his partner came to his recuse. The other noticed the wound and quickly called for more help. The last thing Edward saw as he passed out was the medical team converging in ready to get him to safety.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“General, call for you from Pendleton.”

Mustang signed another document and grabbed the phone. He cradled the receiver between his shoulder and chin. “Mustang.”

_“General Roy Mustang?”_

Roy’s eye twitched. “Yes?” Didn’t he already establish who he was.

_“We are sorry to bother you, but we tried to get a hold of Alphonse Elric, he wasn’t anywhere we could reach him, do you know his brother, Edward?”_

Roy nearly dropped the receiver. “Yes?” His mind immediately went to all the things that could have gone wrong. Was he missing? Was he kidnapped? Did he manage to get himself knocked unconscious? When his thoughts turned negative Roy tried to get a hold of himself. This could be a checkup or a report or something.

_“We need to contact his brother, Edward has been injured.”_

Roy’s mind went everywhere at once. Usually if Edward was injured on the job no one really had to call out. Not like this. They only called if someone was dead. Could he be dead? No, Edward couldn’t be dead; he was too damn strong for that. “You can talk to me, I am his commanding officer.”

_“In situations like this it is best that we talk to family.”_

Mustang’s eyes went wide. Situations like what? Were they saying Edward was dead? There was just no way he could be dead. But what if he was? Edward was dead and Mustang had not been there to protect him. His sun god was dead and the last words out of his mouth to him had been less than pleasant. Sitting up, his hands fisted the papers in front of him. “I will contact Alphonse, now tell me-…”

_“It is hospital policy to speak to-…”_

“I am General Mustang, Flame Alchemist and his life partner; now tell me what the hell is going on!” Hawkeye rushed in as his voice reached a shout. He quickly looked up at her and out a hand over the end of the receiver. “Get the car ready and find Al.” She nodded once and left without another word.

The receiver was quiet for a moment before the man on the other end continued. _“I am at the West City hospital. Lieutenant Colonel Elirc was admitted for an injury to his throat. The injury was caused by an unknown creature. What we are aware of is that the jugular vein was hit; he lost nearly half the blood in his body. We are not concerned about the blood loss. What is cause for concern is that the creature was poisonous. We have been doing what we can, but not knowing exactly what we are dealing with has left us with trying to treat him blindly against the poison. He has entered into a coma and we need to know if we start to lose him-…”_

Mustang was fast with his reply. He stood and shrugged into his coat. “You do everything you can for him. If you lose him I swear the entire hospital will be go along with him. We will be there in less than day.” He slammed the phone down and ran to the door.

Riza popped back in. “Car is around front.” He walked with the General as she talked fast. “Al will be to the train station, we sent Havoc to get him from school.” Quickly she grabbed her own coat and ran to catch up with him. Around the halls people got out of his way, it was obvious from the look on his face that no one could slow him down. “How bad is it sir?”

Mustang grit his teeth. “He was attacked and poisoned. They don’t know what to do for him, they are afraid they will lose him, they called to ask if they should try to save him if it goes south.”

Hawkeye bit into her lip. As they made it to the front of the building she jumped into the front seat, Mustang right behind her and together they floored it to the train station.


	9. The General

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a little help from Al Mustang is on a war path. Even though he believes himself unworthy of Edward's presence it won't stop him from doing everything he can to save the one person who truly matters in his life.

**~Beautiful~**

Chapter 9: The General

 

Al met Roy at the train station, he didn’t say a word, he just boarded the train. Hawkeye chose to stay behind, ready to take care of everything in the General’s absence. As the train departed Roy hunkered down in his seat, already he was going everywhere at once. He looked over to Al, who had not said more than two words to him. The younger brother was calm. He was watching the world go by through the window without so much as a line on his face.

Before long Roy ordered a drink from one of the train attendants. Al could be cool and collected in this situation, but Roy couldn’t. He couldn’t stand that Ed had gotten hurt on his watch especially after what happened between them the last time he saw him. He said and did a ton of crap he regretted, but most of all he regretted that he let Edward leave that night. He had run after the blonde at first, but part of him didn’t want to face the shame of apologizing. He didn’t want to admit that he had messed everything up.

At least with a drink he could think better. As his drink arrived he downed it in less than thirty seconds and then ordered another. When the next drink came he took his time, but soon enough he had another. By the third one his mind was going fuzzy. It was helping the dull ache inside of him that he was still so far away from Ed. As he went to order one last one, Al quickly got up took the glass from him, gave it to the attendant and asked that no more drinks be brought to their seats and that they not be disturbed for the rest of the ride.

Before Al sat back down he stood still, not facing Roy for a moment. The General could see he was shaking. Roy wondered if it was fear that made him look that way. He was about to say something when Al turned, pulled his fist back and hit him hard in his jaw.

Taking his seat again Alphonse narrowed his eyes. “Can you pull yourself together, if not for your own sake than for Brother’s?” As Al got himself back in control he crossed his legs and stared at Mustang angrily. He usually didn’t resort to violence unless he and his brother got into a fight or he had to defend himself. Be that as it may, the fact that Mustang was drinking with the ease of a fish he could barely keep his anger in check before he clocked him. He could have been spitting fire in that moment.

“I know the two of you have been fighting, but it was both your faults, him for running and you for being an ass.”  He had been worried about his brother, but every time he brought up it up Edward would immediately tell him to worry about himself. He didn’t want his younger brother to worry about him. However, Al could see it in his brother. He wasn’t focused like he used to. He took no pleasure in his job even if it was something he loved to do. He also spent too much time alone. He walked for miles, sat in odd places for long periods of time and where he would usually be witty, loud and funny he just offered a smile and spaced off. Al had a right to be worried, his brother was suffering.

Mustang was ready to retort, to say something that would make Al shut up. While he wanted to say it wasn’t his fault, at the same time he knew it was. The last thing he ever wanted to do was hurt his lover. He loved Edward more than anything and to think that he had been hurting him so extensively, he didn’t want to live. He needed the comfort of a drink. A drink could never lie to him. A drink could never hurt him. A drink could never leave him or die on him. Edward could do all of that, so maybe he should be allowed to have a drink because as much as he loved Edward, bad things happened. What if Edward died? What if he wasn’t able to get to him in time and no one was able to contact them to tell them things went south? What would happen to him, what if-…

“Can you get over yourself for just one minute, this isn’t about you!” Al reached across the space between them and hit Roy again, this time he socked him in the nose. As blood spurted from Mustang’s nose Al relaxed. “I don’t pretend to know what he sees in you and for what it’s worth I have been doing my best not to hit you for the past two weeks!” Al didn’t lose his temper often. If he did there were only a few reasons, either someone did something stupid or it was a life or death situation. Sneering at the General Al collected himself. “You screwed up, don’t go drowning in alcohol to help you get over it and don’t you dare go near my brother smelling like brandy and self-loathing. He doesn’t need that right now!” Al looked out the window and sighed. He was worried for his brother, but he knew damn well that if Ed was going to die he would wait till his brother was there or he would at least put up one hell of a fight. “Now, why don’t you sober up and be strong for him, he would be pissed if you showed up any other way.”  Standing Al sighed. He straightened out his clothing and looked back to Mustang. “I am going to get you some ice and something to clean up your nose. Sit here, don’t move and I will be back.”

Mustang watched Al go through the haze of blood and what was left of the alcohol in his system. He had not been expecting that. Al was the calmer of the two and had never come close to hitting him like Ed did at any moment. However, despite the fact that he was in pain, his nose was busted and his jaw was sore and bruised, the words that Al spoke to him rang true. He didn’t need to show up drunk to the hospital. That did nothing for Edward and it most definitely would not be good for his love to see him in such a state. If anything, Edward would tell him to go take a cold shower and not to come back till he was mentally stable.  

“It looks like I broke your nose too.” Al sat down a FirstAid kit, a bowl of ice and a towel. He sat down next to the general and began to use gauze to clean the blood. Looking down at Mustang’s shirt Al sighed. “Some club soda and a little soap should get that out.” Looking up, he placed a hand on either side of Mustang’s face; put both thumbs to Mustang’s nose and quickly reset the break. As the General yelped, Al smiled. “Brother would have told you to stop whining. It had to be done.” Touching the other’s jaw he grabbed the ice and towel and gave the general something to hold while he finished cleaning the blood. After a moment he sat back and ran a hand over his face. Looking through his fingers he smiled wearily at his brother’s lover. “Can we please not fight anymore?”

Mustang smiled gently. “As I recall it, I’m the victim.” He pointed to his nose. Al sat back and laughed at him. After a calm moment Roy reached out and touched Al’s shoulder. “Thank you. I needed that.” Mustang should have been ashamed. He was being scolded by children now.

Al sighed and moved back to the other side of the seat. He wiped off his hands and set all the used items neatly to be collected later on when they left the train. “You’re welcome; someone has to keep you in line when Brother isn’t around.”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Roy and Al made it to the hospital they were met at the door by a Warrant Officer by the name of Khan. He bowed in respect and offered to take them to see Ed immediately. They were approached by the doctor who filled them in on Ed’s condition. His vitals were holding strong, luckily for them a fluke was keeping the venom from spreading too his vital organs. His automail was emitting an electrical current that drew the poison to it and kept it sequestered in his right arm and left leg area. That was easy enough to treat and it kept him from losing anymore limbs or other important parts of his body. 

“You can both go and sit with him, but until he wakes up there isn’t much we can do. What would help is if we knew what bit him. We could find the proper treatment.” The doctor nodded at the door.

Mustang bit into his lip. Al was already opening the door, unafraid it would seem of what would be lying behind that door. When the younger Elric turned back to him, asking a silent question with his eyes Roy shook his head and stepped back. He hadn’t earned the right to be in that room just yet and he wouldn’t go in there until he had. “Stay with your brother Al. I am going to get to the bottom of this.” He thought Al would want to hit him again, instead he nodded once, smiled and closed the door behind him as he went in.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“This is where we found the Lieutenant Colonel after he was attacked.” Warrant officer Khan pointed to the mess all over the floor of the basement. “He had requested a blanket for whatever he found and then he was attacked. I had already run off, when I returned he had destroyed the creature and was bleeding profusely.”

Mustang nodded. It took everything he had to keep his stomach from roiling. No one had really been down since Ed had been taken to the hospital. It was a good thing in one regard that the evidence was all still there, but at the same time the rotting smell of whatever that thing was still lingered. Maggots were all over the floor, the leftovers of the insides of the creature littered the floor, falling apart in darkened chunks. The smell of it was horrible.

Steeling himself Roy looked around. There had to be something to help Ed. “I need you to start looking through everything. Find something that can tell us what the hell that creature was. It doesn’t matter what it is, if it helps it helps.”

“Yes sir.” Khan went to work behind Mustang.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Mustang returned to the hospital, the Doctor, whose name was Alberts, was talking to Alphonse, who looked grim faced in the chair next to his brother’s still form. For a moment Mustang felt his heart leap into his throat. He had only been gone for a day at best. He and Khan worked through the night and finally they found the information they needed and not only that but more evidence to help if the information didn’t. Mustang shoved the door open throwing a volume of notes onto the bedside table.

The doctor looked from the notes to Mustang. “I was just telling Mr. Elric that it has been too long already. He is having trouble breathing now. We need to decide to pull his automail and the rest of his limbs with the ports or…”

Roy growled under his breath, he walked over to the Doctor and shoved him away from his lover’s bedside. “You can swallow whatever the hell you are about to say, we found the source of the poison.”

Al looked to the notes and grabbed them fast. “Are you serious!” Quickly Al’s practiced eyes tore through all the pages. After a moment or two he stood and grinned. “The lizards he chose to use was a basilisk and a horny devil; he infused the lizards first with curare and from there fused the kid with them.” Grinning now, Al turned to the doctor and smashed the pages into his hand. “Lizards are cold blooded, so when that creature bit my brother it must have either bled into his wound or the curare mutated and was attracted to the coldest part of Brother’s body, his automail.”

Mustang smiled slowly. “How long does it take for it to be filtered out of his system?” He knew of the poison. It never took long for it to filter out of the body; it lasted a little over eight hours at most. Therefore Ed should have been up by now.

Nodding now the Doctor looked over to Ed, then Al. He breathed in and out slowly a few times. “Tell me what you know about this creature. The poison should have been out of his system by now.”

“Chimeras are not exactly easy to predict, especially because these creatures have been fused with humans in this case.” Al grabbed the pages back and began looking through them again. He looked up to Mustang fast and then back down. “Did you find anything about testing? That Chimaera was apparently held off from all the others, underground. From what I understand, blood was everywhere.”

Mustang nodded and stood near the other. He took the pages and fumbled with them for a minute before he stopped on one. “This. It said something about a trial run time.”

Al grinned as he saw the page. Quickly he ran his finger over it lightly, tracing the lines he read. He stopped on one particular line. “It says here that he used the other chimeras as test subjects. Each subject was bitten by the kid after provocation and from there the poison ran its course within twenty four hours.” Al’s brow furrowed. That didn’t quite sit right. It had been at least two days now. “He doesn’t say anything about human trials. What it does say is that he added an agent to the poison, its heavy in iron, so that means that because of the electronic pulses emitted by brother’s automail, the poison draws itself there like a magnet.”

“What would you do to flush the poison out Al?” Roy said fast. There a little bit of hope and he was going to run with it.

“Doctor? What would you say to removing the automail and then draining the fluid building up around it?” Al looked up, Mustang too, but as soon as they did, they noticed something had gone wrong. The doctor wasn’t there and Khan wasn’t on the door. “What the-…”

Mustang growled under his breath. He should have known something was wrong. The Doctor kept insisting that they needed to let Ed die, and the Warrant Officer with Ed, he should have asked for a team to go in and investigate when Ed came up poisoned. Situations like that had standard protocol. “Wait here.” Briskly walking out the door, Mustang walked fast to the hospital’s first floor. He looked out the window at one minute and saw both Khan and the doctor getting in the car. Mustang gritted his teeth and without hesitation he pulled out his gloves. By the time he was outside the two conspirators jumped into a waiting car and were trying to speed away. Mustang held up his hand and snapped.

The road in front of the car exploded. The car swerved. Mustang snapped again. This time the tires blew out. Then with a final snap, the entire car went up in flames. The occupants bailed out a moment later but Mustang was already there.

The two looked up, fear written all over their faces. Mustang held his hand out ready to strike. He wanted them dead; they were going to kill Ed, his Ed, the only person that loved him past the pain, they wanted to destroy someone who had a near divine effect on everyone he had ever come in contact with. Mustang gritted his teeth; they wanted to destroy his Leto.

Roy held his hand up, ready to burn them alive for what they did. He struggled for minute, flashbacks of the Ishvalan War coming back. His hand shook, he was almost ready to do it, but then Ed’s eyes flashed in his vision he dropped his hand. He smiled gently. His lover still managed to help him, even when he was on the edge of breaking. “You’re lucky. If I didn’t have someone waiting on me that would reprimand me for killing the both of you I would blow you both to kingdom come.” That didn’t stop him from punching them both as hard as he could. He would see to it that they paid; he wouldn’t kill them, which would just be the easy way out. Roy turned but didn’t leave the seen. Instead of doing that he waited until the authorities were there. As they arrived he pointed at the two behind him. “Take them into custody. I want them under lock and key. No one is to talk to them until I do.” The men stayed still for a moment, wondering if they were really going to arrest a doctor and a military officer. They debated with worried glances until Roy advanced on them, his eyes intent and serious. “Unless you all want to lose your jobs I suggest you get moving.” His voice left no room to argue and finally the men were moving, dragging the men to their feet, their car being hauled off as evidence.

Now going back to Ed’s room Mustang threw the door open. Al stood, at his approach. He nodded to the younger Elric brother. “Get ready for some real world experience Al.”

Al looked up, his eyes wide. “What are you talking about?”

Roy crossed over to Ed’s bed and took in the sight of him. There was breathing tube down his throat, a multitude of IVs running through his arms, keeping the poison at bay. Reaching down he took his lover’s hand and smiled gently. “We are going to save him Alphonse.” He was never going to let his lover go. Edward was going to go through hell before he let that happen. Besides, Edward couldn’t go, not until they were both old, grey and Mustang had the chance to get to his knees and apologize for losing sight of what was really important. Looking up at Al all business now, Roy looked him in the eye. “Can you save him Al?”

Alphonse was shocked. He knew the doctor had run off, but he didn’t know he was all that was left. “What about the other doctors?” Roy shook his head and Al understood. Who else was supposed to take care of his brother but didn’t? Biting into his lip he clenched his fists and looked down at his brother. No one but him could be trusted, he was his brother’s only chance. Locking eyes with Mustang he squared his jaw and set his shoulders. “How long before the hospital is under your control, I need to get him into surgery as soon as possible.”

Mustang nodded, he crossed over to the phone in the room and quickly dialed a number. He put the receiver to his ear and a second later… “This is General Mustang, Id Zero Alpha Omega Two three. I need a command lockdown of the West City Hospital; I also need the investigation team and Colonel Armstrong here to take control of the West City Command Center along with my team in tow.” He hung up the phone without preamble and looked to Al. “Done.”

Al smiled and shook his head. “You’re a wonder General.”

In response Mustang shrugged and turned back to the task at hand. “Tell me what you need.”

“An operating room, a team of four and two hours.” Al said fast. He shrugged out of his jacket, laying it on the bed.

“Done.” Mustang walked out of the room fast, going to the service desk, when Al turned to watch him go he smiled as Mustang picked up the phone in the hall and began making calls again. 


	10. Questions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roy has turned West City upside down in his quest to become worthy to Ed again, the question is...will it be enough for Leto or will he end everything in the hopes of never having to go through such pain again?

**~Beautiful~**

Chapter 10: Questions

 

 

“What about the two men?” Mustang looked up into the eyes of Colonel Armstrong as he waited for Ed to come out of surgery. Mustang had been able to procure a few nurses not from West City Hospital for Al’s team. After they arrived Al quickly changed into better clothing, scrubbed up and wheeled his brother into surgery, the nurses hot on his heels. He said he needed two hours, but it had already been four. To keep himself busy Mustang spent a while in a room across the hall from Edward’s working with his team to get to the bottom of what was going on.

After interrogation it was discovered that Warrant Officer Khan had requested the detail to be with Ed when he was ordered to investigate the chimera problem. According to what he confessed he was paid by the Alchemist to keep away any investigations. If it ever came up Khan quickly disposed of the threat by filing a false report some time later that the disappearances of the younger children in the neighborhood was on going and cold. Doctor Alberts was in charge of preparing sacrifices for the doctor to use as testing material. Usually the person was in an accident and upon arriving at the hospital they would be wheeled into surgery only to miraculously die, despite the excellent care and then be immediately cremated. That night, he would take the bodies to meet their real fate as food and human experimentation subjects.

When Ed was called upon it was because the ongoing cases had hit the desk of the Fuhrer and from there Grumman knew something was wrong. There were at least twenty reports each of people’s bodies going missing and children gone from their homes. Giving the case to Ed was a subtle way for the Fuhrer to make the crime circle grow nervous and make a mistake. It wasn’t the mistake the Fuhrer was hoping for, but they did dig their own graves by nearly killing Ed. Mustang, at first, was furious that Grumman would have ever sent Ed without letting him know what was up, but he couldn’t stay upset for long. It would do him no good to try and protect Edward from every psychopath or crime syndicate.

It didn’t help that Grumman himself came to visit and after a lengthy discussion explained all of the plans he had laid. His hope was that with all the money and subjects gone, Ed would connect the dots and solve the case. However, he was not aware of just how dangerous this particular batch of chimeras were. Mustang was also asked about his abrupt departure from Central without being ordered to do so. Mustang, with no fear, quickly explained that it wouldn’t happen again, but despite personal feelings he felt it was his obligation to come to West City and take care of what the officer under his command did not. Grumman simply smiled, laughed and then nodded saying something about love being a far better motivator than politics in this case. He left not long after, sending his regards and requiring that Mustang update him on Fullmetal’s recovery. Although Mustang knew he wouldn’t be able to run to Edward’s aid like this again, he did know that Grumman had let him off the hook this time. The man may be old, but he knew that Mustang had left in fear of his lover’s life.

After the Fuhrer’s departure they launched an audit into West Command. If this was overlooked for two years which was as far back as they dug, they were sure that more cases had been neglected. By the time they were done West Command would be officially turned upside down. The hospital was also being looked into. There had been staff members that could have helped but didn’t. These kinds of things had to be fixed so that they didn’t happen again. That was another reason why Grumman wasn’t upset with Mustang. He had exposed a flaw in one of their command centers. Weakness in any of their command posts showed the public weakness. If they didn’t nip that in the bud it would cause uprising. They didn’t need that in the state they were in currently. It would be a repeat of when Bradley was king.

“They will be transferred to Central Command for formal charges. It looks like they will be facing imprisonment for life rather than death.” Alex said quickly. When he arrived to take control of West Command he was filled in on Edward’s condition. He couldn’t believe that someone as strong as the eldest Elirc brother had been in such a dire situation and still managed to stay alive. His main worry was Mustang, along with the rest of his team. The General was running himself ragged but no one could convince him to slow down, nor did they truly want to. Roy needed motivation. He needed to be pushed to his greatest limits so that when he became Fuhrer he would be the best Fuhrer Amestris had ever had. Despite the fact that Edward had nearly lost his life, he had done Mustang an incredible favor. Besides, if he was just sitting around Roy would be insufferable.

“General, Colonel?”

Mustang stilled at that voice. He wanted to stop his reaction, but he couldn’t help himself. Panic spread through his nervous system. He kept his feelings at bay; he didn’t want what happened on the train to come at him again full force. He refused to think any ill thoughts about the condition his lover was in. Turning he looked into Al’s face and braced himself for the news. “Well?”

Al smiled calmly. He took off the surgical apron and tossed into the medical waste bin. “He will be fine. He will need to recover for a long while; the poison worked its way into some of the muscle tissue, so for the next month he will have to rest and slowly begin the process of building it up again.” Al could have grinned. He was utterly in rapture that he saved his brother. He was happy because his training to become a doctor had been put to the test and he proved himself, but also because he wouldn’t have been comfortable handing his brother over to anyway he didn’t know personally or at least trusted. They made the mistake with Alberts, he would not let it be made again, no matter how nervous he had been when he agreed to do the surgery. The nurses he requested had been kind and encouraged him, coaching him through his nervousness. Before long he was working determinedly, commanding the operating room like a real physician. “Luckily the fluid was densely concentrated. It just took us a while to take the automail out and then get past the ports to drain the fluid than I first thought.”

Mustang nearly crumpled. Instead he looked down at his feet, his hands clenching and unclenching. After a few moments of silence he looked up at Al and smiled. “Thank you Al. You are absolutely incredible.” The relief he felt that Ed was going to live…it was impossible to feel any happier in a single moment. All he had to do was make sure to take better care of his lover and all would be well. Taking a deep breath, he turned back to Colonel Armstrong. The colonel smiled at him and reached into his pocket. Mustang was shocked when he was handed a handkerchief. Then finally he realized what it was for, there were tears in his one eye. Roy smirked, took the item and wiped furiously at the salt water making its way down his face. After a moment he looked up, laughed and shrugged. Giving Al one last look as he walked away to check on his patient, Roy started down the hallway. “Alright, let’s wrap this up.”

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ed opened his eyes slowly. He groaned as the light filtered into his gaze and blinded him. It took him a minute, his mind was as fuzzy as his vision was, but after a few minutes the ceiling came into view. He paused, that was the ceiling he remembered seeing when he blacked out. The last one had been dark, made of concrete and covered in bloody arrays.

“Brother?”

Ed turned his head to see Al grinning at him. His younger brother was holding his hand. “Al?” Ed winced. His voice was hoarse.

“Brother!” Al could have cried. Ed had been out of surgery for close to a day. He had been worried that the Poison had gone deeper than he thought it would. If that was the case they would have to operate all over again. “Thank goodness Brother.” Al leaned over and nuzzled Ed’s hand.

Ed smiled calmly, he tried to reach over and rub his brother’s head, but he noticed that he was missing a limb. His eyes went to his shoulder and then to his leg when he noticed that it was missing too. “Al, what’s going on?” He had to think rationally to keep the panic from his voice. He had not woken up without limbs too often. It did his best to keep the flashbacks of his mother’s disfigured transmuted corpse from his mind.

Smiling, still with his eyes closed, Al explained. “The chimera you were bit by was infused with the poison known as curare. Sometimes it’s good as anesthesia but in the wrong doses it’s poisonous. You had enough in your system to take out a herd of horses.”

Ed nodded. “Then why are my arm and leg gone?”

“I had to remove the automail. The electrical pulses admitted by the arm and leg were drawing the poison to it because for some reason the poison was heavily induced with iron. I had to operate below the ports to draw out the fluid. Your arm and leg were in the way.” He knew the pain it would cause to reconnect the limbs. But if he had not done what he did, his brother would be dead. “Don’t worry, they have been sanitized and are ready to be reattached when you are ready.”

“You operated on me?” Ed smirked. The panic he was feeling from earlier was gone. What excited him more was that he had been his brother’s first success. His brother might as well be a doctor by this point.

Al blushed and nodded as he sat back up. “It’s turns out the doctor treating you and the officer that was helping you were working for the alchemist who created the chimeras. I was being told to let you die constantly. General Mustang-…”

“Roy is here?” Ed’s eyes went wide. His eyes found the door a second later and he spotted his lover talking to Armstrong. “Why?” Hawkeye ran up to Roy, handed him a document which he quickly scanned and then turned to Havoc. He gave him an order and Havoc ran off to complete it. Others were swarming around him, waiting for the chance to speak with him. The entire team was there and it looked like half of Central Command too. There were even guards on the door to Ed’s room.

Al chuckled. “That is a stupid question Brother. Why else would he be here?”

“But…” Didn’t he hate him now or something? Why in the world would Mustang be there to…

“He discovered which poison was in your system. He figured out the crime ring and even took over the hospital and West Command when he figured out what was going wrong. If it weren’t for him I wouldn’t have been able to get you into surgery so fast.” Al ducked his head, blushing deeper as he avoided his brother’s gaze. “When I told him you were going to be okay he was crying.” Al sighed wistfully. “He really loves you Brother.”

“Damn him!” Ed could have been crying. Mustang should hate him, despise him and he should have stayed in central when he heard the news. He should have let Edward die so he could prove that he was right about Ed or something. Yet there he was, standing in the hallway, having done all of this because of him. What was worse, it was obvious he had not been sleeping. There were deep set bags under his eyes. He was having trouble focusing, every so often he had to rub his eyes to see straight as they blurred. Ed was positive that everyone was worried. Ed was and he hadn’t even spoken to the man yet.

Smirking Al looked back at the General with a smile. “He surprised me. At first he wanted to drink his problems away when he heard about what happened. But after I…um…hit him. It snapped him out of it and he has been revving on full throttle ever since.”

That shocked the blonde from his thoughts about the General. “You hit him?” Ed said in disbelief. His bother wasn’t very violent, so if he hit the General there had to be a damn good reason for it. “Tell me you broke something.” Ed grinned at the idea of Mustang being taken down by his little brother.

Al stuttered for a moment. He looked down and begun wringing his hands. “I broke his nose.”

If it weren’t for the fact that he broke into a fit of coughing, Ed would have been roaring with laughter. He had to remember he hadn’t used his voice in… “What day is it?” He looked around trying to spot a calendar or something.

“You’ve been out of it for about four days now. Three before surgery and one after.” Al took his brother’s hand again. His eyes turned solemn. “You scared me brother.”

Ed nodded. Tightening his hold on the hand in his and smiled. He shifted to look into his brother’s eyes again. “We made a promise Al. We swore to keep moving and living. I may be stuck in this bed right now, but I swear I will keep that promise till I can’t anymore.”

Al clasped their hands together. “Right.”

Ed took a deep breath and turned his eyes back to the ceiling. His eyes closed involuntarily after a minute and he smirked. It figured that he would be out for days only to want to sleep again. “Al-…”

Alphonse beat him to the punch. “Your recovering Brother, get some sleep.” The curare in his brother’s system would take a while to filter out. Al was guessing weeks. He wasn’t in any real danger; he just had to make sure his brother didn’t push himself too fast. It would leave him tired and weak until he could get his body back to peak physical condition.

Ed opened his eyes quickly and held up their hands. Smiling at his suddenly grown up brother, Ed took a deep breath. “Thank you Al. You’re the best.”

Smiling Al pulled the sheets over his brother again. “You’re welcome bother. Get some sleep.” As his brother’s eyes closed and his breathing evened out, Al stood from his chair and with a smile walked to the door. As he opened it, Mustang looked up, but paid him little attention. He went back to whatever he was saying to Hawkeye. Al stood there for a moment and finally, “He was awake.” The entire hallway went still. Everyone turned to Al who was still smiling gently. Al’s eyes were on Mustang who turned away from him, his hands all but ripping the document in his hand as he clenched his fists. “He should be awake again in few hours. He never really rests for a few hours at a time if he can help it.” Nodding once Roy seemed to try and find a way out of the conversation. Al could see it. Regret and pain were on his mind. Shaking his head the younger Elric looked back up and grinned. “I will hit you again General if you try to run.”

Roy laughed at that. He turned back to Al, his eyes on the verge of tears. He held it back though. He hadn’t been able to rest for the longest time instead he held it together and shrugged. He had been thinking that he hadn’t earned his chance to be in that room yet. He needed just a little while longer to make everything right with Western Command and then he could go in there and lay the project at Ed’s feet and beg for him to come back. Now as Al watched him along with the entire hallway he nodded. “I would rather you not hit me again.” Looking to Hawkeye he handed her the crumpled paper. “Colonel Armstrong is in command for the rest of this Hawkeye; you are to report to him.” Looking to said Colonel, who was crying openly about how profound this monumental display of hope was, Mustang stopped him mid speech before he could tear off his shirt. “Slow down tiger, my team is yours for a little while; I need hourly updates, understood?” Saluting, Armstrong gathered the team up and departed into the adjacent room. Roy turned back to the still open door and took a deep breath.

“It’s alright; he won’t bite until he wakes up.” Al said calmly.

Roy smirked, nodded once and walked through the door.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ed opened his eyes yet again. He yawned openly. He groaned as he realized once again that his leg and arm were gone. Moving his arm he went to run his flesh hand over his face when he felt weight on it. Turning his head he looked over to see a head of unruly black hair.  Before he could help himself he was smiling. Roy was asleep, one hand on Edward’s as the fingers were loosely laced together. He looked utterly exhausted. “Idiot.” Ed turned toward Roy and smiled. Wiggling his fingers he grinned devilishly. “Wake up stupid.” He kept talking, whispering to his lover till Roy’s face scrunched up and his dark eyes opened. It took a while, so while he whispered he figured out what he was going to say to the man once he was up.

Getting irritated at whatever was making him wake up Mustang opened his eyes and sat up. He scrubbed his hand over his face. He hadn’t realized he had fallen asleep. He couldn’t help it really. When he began sitting with Ed he had spent a long time watching his face and enjoying the fact that Edward was just alive. It felt like he could breathe again. He relaxed and then he was out like a light.

“It’s about time.”

Roy smiled, his head tipping back. After a moment he looked down into Edward’s eyes and felt his insides light up as the look he was being given set fire to his entire body. He was expecting a smile, but Ed’s lips were set in a grim line and his brow line was low. “I suppose I am in trouble?” He didn’t care if he was. Ed was too beautiful in this moment for him to be worried about that. He was lying on his back, his hair spread out behind his head like a halo. Though his eyes were seriously contemplative there was serenity on his face that made his bone structure become incredible in the light.

The blonde shrugged. “Questions mostly.” Sitting up as his hand was let go, he ran his hand through his hair. Looking towards the open window he took a long deep breath. “Why are you here Mustang?”

Looking down at his hands Roy shrugged. He hated the fact that Ed was using his last name. It made him feel like he was being punished. He was quiet for a minute, trying to work the words over in his head before he said them. The wrong things said and Ed would never come back to him or give the time of day. “I’ve been practicing this in my head over and over again, but what it comes down to is…” He almost felt like he was confessing the deepest darkest secret of his soul. “I was wrong Ed. Wrong to treat you like I did. When I got my orders as acting Fuhrer I was excited and you were the first person I really celebrated it with but now that I look back on it, what I did to you...” Mustang smiled bitterly. “That wasn’t my vision of what I would be like as Fuhrer. If I ever become Fuhrer, it would mean absolutely nothing if you weren’t there.” A long time ago he thought he would be able to live his life without someone at his side, yet Ed upset his plans and it made him acutely aware that living his life without a companion, especially one as beautiful and as perfect as Ed would just make him want to shoot himself in the head. Edward was his world now.

“Why do you even try with me? We both know that we don’t have an ideal relationship.” Ed examined the ends of his hair calmly. He still didn’t look at Roy. It was true. They fought and struggled in their relationship even before Roy had become acting Fuhrer and really fucked everything over. Not to mention that Roy would probably be on his way to really becoming Fuhrer if he had a wife at his side, not a volatile man with a short complex and a smart mouth.

“I don’t care about the ideal Ed! Nothing about you or I is ideal.” He was standing before he knew what was going on. Edward was ideal to him. His and his lover’s relationship wasn’t ideal to anyone else outside of it, but to them it was all they needed. “I couldn’t even come to see you when I first got here because I felt like I hadn’t earned the right!” That was what ideal meant to him, he needed to be in his lover’s good graces before he ever came before him again. That was what all of this was. It was an offering, a captured prize to set before Ed’s feet so that he could beg if need be. He wanted to make Ed proud, because his Leto was the one who pushed him to be better than he was in the past, just remembering the things that his lover had to overcome made Roy want to be a better person. Ed was the true reason he was so high up in the military, without him Roy was an empty shell. He was nothing without his creator.

Shrugging, Ed looked to the sheet wrapped around him. “What makes you think you earned it now?”

“I haven’t.” Roy sat on the edge of the bed. “I haven’t earned the right to be with you, but I couldn’t stay away any longer. I wanted to at least feel that you were real.” He wanted to reach out and run his hands through Ed’s hair. He wanted to trace his jaw and kiss him because he felt like he hadn’t in so long. “I want to earn it now Ed, I want to find a way to make things right.” He would do anything it took to mend what he broke.

He was taking advantage of Roy’s giving state, he knew, but he couldn’t go through another fight like that. It would break him more than he was willing to admit out loud. “If I asked you to never become Fuhrer…would you do it?” Fullmetal’s bangs hid his face. He had been thinking about what he was going to say to Roy for hours. What he wanted was perfection in a way, but what it truly came down to was that he wanted his lover to commit to him, commit to him and never let something as simple as his work come between them. It wasn’t easy to hurt his lover with his words. It was one of the harder things he had ever really done in his life. What he wanted was to jump into his arms and make it seem like the last month and a half hadn’t happened. He wanted everything to go back to the way things were.

Roy didn’t even hesitate. “Yes.” Who gave a crap about being king if the one person that truly mattered in his life wasn’t there anymore?

Ed bit into his lip. After a moment he looked up, his smile in place. “Tell me you love me.” He already knew the answer; he just wanted to hear it.

Roy leaned over, his hand reaching for Ed’s. Ed grabbed it as soon as it was an inch from his own. “I love you more than anything.”

“Good.” Ed nodded. His voice wavered. Lips trembling, he tried to keep the sound in his voice. “Because I love you too.” His heart was beating a mile a minute. He had known he had loved Mustang since the moment the General’s feelings surfaced. When Mustang started saying it to him he knew that it was only a matter of time before he followed suit and he knew he couldn’t keep it to himself any longer when he saw Mustang standing outside his door. “And you are going to be Fuhrer, whether you like it or not.” Mustang had given up too much already. He had worked too hard not to finally achieve his dream. Ed loved him enough to stand by him till he got there.

Mustang was across the last bit of space between them before he could help it. Their lips crashed together and it was like they were never apart. He pulled Edward to him, his fingers finally getting the chance to run through silken gold locks. He was straddling Ed’s hips now, pushing his lover back onto the bed as their mouths opened and their tongues fought with one another. Mustang found himself tracing his lover’s body once again, missing his metal limbs just because he knew his lover did and he wasn’t whole without them. There was nothing more that he wanted to do than take Edward right then and right there and seal them together in the one act that made them both feel the weight of their relationship’s longevity.

However, he felt the IVs still attached to his lover’s arm and he pulled back gently. Beneath him Ed groaned and tried to drag him back. Roy would have done so if Al hadn’t warned him that he would be hit again if he pushed his brother too far in his recovery. Putting a hand to Ed’s chest he pushed lightly, Ed falling back, flopped on the bed, his hand coming to rest over his eyes. Roy grinned. “Al has me on watch my love. Unfortunately no matter how much I want to make love to you, as hard as I can,” Ed moaned again, he arched his hips up, showing that he wouldn’t object. One hand came to Mustang’s shoulder, ready to pull him down and change his mind. Roy shook his head and kissed his lover chastely. “No Ed. You’re still recovering.”

“Fuck recovery.” Ed’s hand came up to grip Mustang’s hair. “I want you so bad right now.”

What Mustang wouldn’t give to give into Ed’s demands and do whatever his lover asked. It took him five minutes to actually decide that it was still not a good idea. He wanted to smash a hammer to his forehead. Ed was below him, waiting to be taken, waiting to be turned into a mess of nerves that sent him into a howling fit and he had to say no. Flinging himself off the bed Roy scrubbed his hands over his face and growled. He looked over to his lover who was breathing hard on the bed. He was obviously upset about it as well. Walking back to him Roy sat at Ed’s beside. “Can I make you a promise instead?”

Ed looked over to him and sighed. “This better be one hell of a promise.” He was thinking about finding a way to pin Mustang and ride him till they were heard by the people walking down on the street.

Laughing, the General reached out and played with a lock of Edward’s hair. “I promise that once you are cleared, I will take leave and do whatever you want me to do to you for an entire week.”

Ed moaned. That statement went automatically to his groin. “I wish you could do that right now.”

Roy nodded. “I do too. But my hands are tied. Your brother has given me special instructions I’m afraid.” He sighed as he sat back, his legs crossing. “I’ve been quite frightened of him these past few days.”

Laughing Edward decided to ignore his sexual frustration. Instead he sat up and turned toward his lover. “He told me he broke your nose.”

Mustang frowned. The area where he broke it was still slightly red and swollen. He had hated it when people asked what happened to him. “I was bleeding like a pig on the train.”

Grinning Ed rocked back. “If Al had to hit you, you deserved it.”

Mustang grew quiet in that moment. He looked down at nothing for a while, his eye blurring. He had deserved it and he was ashamed of the fact that he had deserved it. Bringing his leg down to the floor he leaned over, his expression sharp suddenly. “Will you let me continue to make things up to you, I know you hate it when I am too attentive, but I want to do this.”

Mustang was right. Ed hated it when he was too attentive and doting. He said it was because he didn’t want to be treated like a girl, but it was mostly because sometimes he didn’t think he deserved the way Roy loved him all the time. He didn’t need gifts, he just wanted Roy to take him into his arms and hold him as he went to sleep. That was all he wanted but he accepted Roy’s love anyway he could get it because he knew that Roy did certain things because it meant something to him. Roy saw symbolism in anything he did for Edward; therefore it was symbolic if Ed turned it down. Reaching out he was rewarded with Roy’s hand to hold. He looked up seriously and nodded. “Yeah, but you know you made everything better already right?”

Smiling Roy brought his lover’s hand to his lips and kissed the knuckles. “Thank you.”

“Before you try to butter me up, I want to tell you something.” When Roy relocated himself to the bed and settled them both back on the bed Ed closed his eyes and choked the words past his lips. “You remember when I asked what you liked about me and you said I didn’t have to tell you what I liked about you…” Ed groaned and ran his hand over his face. A blush worked its way into his cheeks. “So, what if I told you that I’ve loved you way longer than you loved me, I am talking from the moment I met you.” He didn’t look into Roy’s face. The only thing that was a clue to how Mustang felt about what he was saying was the way he kissed Ed’s hair and held him just a bit tighter. Ed went on. “I fought with you so much as a kid because I liked seeing you react to me. I hated it when you interacted with anyone but me. I hated all the girls you flirted with and dated, because I couldn’t do the same. When you and Riza found each other I felt bad about being jealous of you two, but that was because I thought the two of you were perfect together. I even tried to get over you. I went out with a few people, but they never took my mind off of you. It was one of the reasons why they never lasted.” The hand wrapped in his was brought to Roy’s lips again. Ed smiled, the blush getting deeper. “When I was on the other side of the gate I figured I would never get back, I tried so hard to forget about you, but all I saw was you on that airship, you in that damn balloon teasing me like you used too. No matter how far I travelled you were there. You were in the back of my mind and it made me wonder if you had moved on, because I hadn’t.” He remembered telling Al that it wasn’t about them anymore. He remembering saying that they had to deal with the cards they were dealt. It was more for him than his younger brother. It was his way of getting over who he left behind in Amestris. “But when I did find a way back, you were the first thing on my mind. I tried to run still. I travelled because I had done that for my entire life, it was my comfort zone. When I was younger I travelled because I had to, it was part of me, it’s in my blood, but when I looked at you it made me want to stay still, it made me want to finally put roots somewhere.” Closing his eyes, Fullmetal gripped his lover’s hand. “One of the reasons I travelled so much was to get away from you, because it scared me to want to feel that way, but in all honesty…you are home. That’s what I feel when I look at you. I feel like I’m home.” At first the realization of what he was feeling made him so scared that he did everything he could to stay away from Mustang. He thought he was only to feel that way with Al or Winry, but Mustang brought up a feeling so deep inside of him that he didn’t know what to classify it as. That was why he worked for the military in a basement with lab rats, that was the reason everyone told him that he had mellowed out and seemed to have become so mature, because he felt like every time he had to report to his commanding officer, something was telling him to stay. Something was requiring him to. He could only acquit it to the feelings that Mustang showed to him. Once he realized that his CO was attracted to him it brought him more joy and more reason to stay put than he had ever felt before.

Roy was speechless. The only thing he could do was kiss his lover. He kissed him deeply, but without the need from earlier. He kissed him with passion, with love. Pulling away he smiled down into Ed’s face. He knew it had taken a lot for his lover to say that and he would never let him say it again, it made his heart hurt and swell too much. He would keep that secret. He would keep it locked away in his soul, just so that he would never doubt Ed’s sincerity. He grinned after a moment. “You actually made this easier for me.” Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a small box. He held it up for Ed to see. “I wanted to make you a true promise that I will never revert to the way I was for this past month or so.” He opened the box and turned it for Ed to see. A small ring was nestled in satin glittered in the light.

Ed gulped. “No I will not marry you.” That was taking it too far. There was no way in hell he would submit himself to that. He may wish to be with Roy forever, but marriage was not on his bucket list. He didn’t even think marriage between two men was legal.

Roy laughed brightly before lifting the ring out of the box. A silver chain hung from it. “Oh I am positive I will convince you some day.” He was positive he wouldn’t. He wasn’t worried that Ed said no anyway. He and Edward didn’t have it in them to be married, no matter how kinky it would be to see Ed in a wedding dress. Holding the ring up Roy smiled. “This ring,” He showed Ed the inside engravings. “Is not the real gift, what is, is the very thing that made me into who I am today.”  

Ed took the ring and peered on the inside. At first glance it looked like a silver ring, plain, simple, but elegant. On the inside was a series of arrays and transmutation circles. It took Ed a moment to realize that these were the very circles that powered Roy’s flame alchemy. “Roy?”

Smiling gently Roy pulled the chain over Ed’s head to rest just against his collar bone. “Before my master died he gave me the secrets to his flame alchemy. He gave some to me, but the majority was given to Riza. She bore the secrets on her back until she asked me to burn them off so that after I died it would never be used again. I am giving this to you because I know you would never use it for something like what I did.” He was referring to Ishval. He knew that Edward would never use the flames to kill someone. He knew that it was safe with Edward. “It’s a promise, a promise to take care of you, a promise to love you, a promise of trust that I have in you.”

Leaning back against his lover Ed smiled as he fingered the ring that was cold against his skin. “You big fat sap.” He yawned. “Damn you.” Ed wanted to laugh at himself. He thought he was in love when he was younger, this was just worse, he was more than in love, he was past that point now.

“Sleep Ed. I will be here when you get up.”

Ed hated being weak. He wanted his arm and leg back, no matter how much it would hurt to reconnect, and go running or for a walk, or swimming or at least screw his lover. Instead he contented himself to curl into Roy and close his eyes. “I don’t need you to promise that do I?” Roy laughed and Ed knew that was his answer. He closed his eyes and feel to sleep listening to the sound of his love’s heartbeat. 


	11. Tamed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roy and Ed have returned from West City and while Ed is still recovering he has never been happier and Roy has every intention of making sure he stays that way. 
> 
> The final chapter of "Beautiful."

**~Beautiful~**

Chapter 11: Tamed

 

Roy stood in the door to his and Ed’s bedroom. He had chosen to come home early and for good reasons other than wanting to stare at Edward and then ravage him the best he could. Despite having good reasons, Mustang could admit that the more lecherous ideas were truer than the wholesome ones. He couldn’t help himself really. It had been far too long since he had the run of his lover’s body.

 Ever since they had come home from West City three weeks ago he had been in utter bliss. Ed hadn’t. After reconnecting his automail and having to get used to the curare in his system till it worked its way out, Edward was practically exhausted. That being said, Al posted himself as being Ed’s primary care physician and was there all the time to make sure his brother was doing low impact physical training and resting the rest of the day to get his strength back up. His checkups stopped about three days ago and despite the exhaustion Ed was facing he hounded Al until he cleared him to engage in more adult activities with his lover. It was obvious then to the younger Elric that his brother was well on the way to a full recovery.

Now the blonde was out cold in their bed, his face pressed into the pillow while the rest of him was stretched over the bed, snoring away happily. That morning Ed had awoken early and began his day by going through a series of exercises that left him in the middle of the floor doing sit ups. By the time Mustang said anything about it Edward had switched to push ups, effectively working himself into a frenzied sweat. Before long Mustang was watching Edward greedily, enjoying the sweat roll down tanned skin and muscles ripple and stretch with effort. It wasn’t until Edward stopped what he was doing and stood, sweating, breathing heavy and grinning that he spoke up about Mustang’s hard on blatantly standing to attention. Ed stated with bright eyes that Mustang should alleviate what was plaguing him. The General had Edward on the floor, on his knees enjoying their favorite exercise within seconds.

Mustang grinned as he thought about that morning. He had been late to work because he couldn’t keep his hands off of Edward. So much so that he had screwed his lover twice before finally cleaning up and leaving. Moving across the room now he sat on the bed and smiled gently. From what he saw Edward had taken a shower and just crashed. His hands moved of their own accord, pushing away the thin blanket on the bed. It was hanging over Ed’s waist, his legs and torso exposed. Roy moaned as he realized his lover had crawled into their bed naked. Roy drew a hand to Ed’s plump backside and cradled one cheek in his hand. He squeezed it gently and felt his groin stir with need.

“No way in hell old man.” Ed cracked an eye open and sat up. Snatching the blanket back he laid it over his waist. “You practically put me in a coma this morning.” He yawned and stretched before falling back into the sheets. Smiling at Roy he grabbed the hand that had taken to wandering over his stomach now. He was happy that his lover found him even more attractive now, but Roy was breaking his hips in, practically putting him under all the time. “What time is it?”

Roy leaned over, putting his cheek to Ed’s chest; his lover’s hands ran through his scalp a second later. He spotted the ring he had given Ed, draped around the blonde’s neck. It stood out well against his tan skin, glittering in the light of the bedroom. Since the moment it was given to him, Ed had not taken it off and every time Roy saw it, resting against Ed’s chest he smiled and was happier than he could express. “It’s about six. I wanted to come home early to be with you.” When Ed snorted he smiled. “I also wanted to take you out for the evening. I have a surprise for you.”

Ed ran his metal hand over his face. “Come on Roy, no more surprises, no more gifts.” They had spent three weeks in West City, mainly because for most of it Ed was still recovering and because they were still straightening out the issues in the hospital and at the West Command Center. For the past three weeks after that Mustang had been spoiling him left and right with gifts and random surprises, whether it was dinner or a surprise outing of some sort. It wasn’t that Ed didn’t love them, it was just he liked being at home with his lover more than anything and that was enough.

Sitting up, the General grinned and gave Ed a quick kiss. “Last one, I promise you will love it and you won’t get anything else out of me for…a few months.”

Scowling Ed rolled his eyes. “Make it a year.”

“Deal.” Roy said quickly. Jumping up from the bed he ran over to Ed’s closet and pulled out some clothes for him. “Get dressed, we leave in twenty minutes.”

Closing his eyes as another yawn split his face Ed waved his hand in acknowledgement. “Yeah yeah.”

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Roy pulled up in his car and sat back. Turning it off he sat back and smiled. Ed was lying down in the front seat, his head in Roy’s lap, his forehead tucked against his lover’s hip. Running his hands through Ed’s hair, which he had been keeping down recently, Mustang tapped the side of his lover’s temple. He didn’t mind that Ed was sleeping so much. With all the training and poison still working through his system, Ed sleeping was just part of the process.

Ed opened his eyes, sat up and stretched in the limited space of the car. Looking over to Mustang he leaned over, kissing him and smiling gently. “Where are we?” He looked around. They were in what looked like the outside of the city. It wasn’t the slums, instead it was a nice looking neighborhood with a few houses, almost like a village. Roy smirked and pointed toward Ed’s window. Ed blinked and then turned to look. His breath caught.

A house, painted red with blue shudders and a white door was sitting about forty yards from him. He stared for a second, his jaw dropping at the sight of the property. Quickly he got out and turned back to his lover who leaned on the car’s roof smiling gently. “It’s for sale?” Roy nodded. Ed grinned and before long he took off across the yard. Without even hesitating he circumvented the house, he looked at the lawn, which while large but still a reasonable size. The back yard was just as big, if not bigger. Edward could see a back porch, that made him smile. He turned and looked up into the sky and smiled wistfully at the stars he could see. One thing he liked about the country was that he could see the stars at night. Living in the city had not afforded him that luxury and he found that he missed it.

“So far so good?” Roy smirked as he rounded the house. He had asked an agent to look around for him, describing his lover’s tastes and the reason he would turn away a house, it wasn’t long before she came back with this particular property. The best part was that the small village they were in was all military owned. They were not only in their budget, but the housing was ten times cheaper for something better than what they had already seen.

Ed tried to ignore the smile spreading over his face, but he couldn’t keep it at bay. “We will know when we get inside.”

“I am glad you like the house Mr. Elric.”

Roy took a step back and nodded to the real estate agent. “Cora is the lady who found this place.”

Ed gave her a nod. “Nice to meet you, can we head inside now?”

“Of course.” Cora stepped back and motioned to the two men to come inside. “The house comes fully furnished and is ready to sell as is.

Ed marched up the back porch steps, walked through the door and without having being prompted he tore through the house, within the first ten minutes he had gone through the first floor. The dining room had a simple chandelier hanging over an elaborate wooden table. The kitchen was huge, big enough for a breakfast table and enough room for five or six people to walk around without being on top of one another. The den was cozy, painted in a soft olive green with black leather furniture, cheery wood accents and an incredible fireplace, complete with a matching mantle. Before long he was in the basement. It had three spacious rooms. Each one could be used for multiple things. More than likely they could be perfect for an office, library and laundry room.

Running back up the steps Edward took to the second floor, not even paying attention to the real estate agent still talking to his lover. Ed was fast to inspect each of the rooms, some had furniture while others didn’t which was fine. They could be used for anything they wanted. He checked the attic and nodded to himself. Then he ran back down to the second floor and checked the final bedroom at the end of the hall. When he threw the door open he stopped cold and grinned. “Roy! Get your ass up here!”

Smiling to himself, Mustang nodded to Cora. “You don’t have to stay. He can be a little extensive in his examinations.” Cora smiled and nodded. She made her way to the door. “We will call if this is it.” As the door closed he made his way upstairs and to the end of the hall as he saw a flash of red. When he walked into the bedroom he spotted Ed standing in front of the far window. Roy paused for a minute and admired Ed’s form. His coat was hanging in his hand, his shirt revealing the tanned skin of his hip bones. His hair had gotten longer, touching the top of the small of his back. The muscles in his back were revealed in the shirt he was wearing. Mustang swallowed hard. “Ed?”

Ed smirked and shook his head. Looking over his shoulder he smiled genuinely at his lover. “It’s perfect. This is the house.” He had tried to find things he hated about the place but he didn’t think there was one thing he disliked. It was a little out of the city, away from the noise and fast pace that Ed sometimes found overwhelming. Some of the furniture could be changed around, but most of it was awesome. There was character in every crevice of the house, from the kitchen to attic and back. There was tons of room and tons of light. The place was beautiful. Ed could honestly see himself living in this place. He didn’t know if he would ever be able to give it up.

Roy smiled and nodded. “You sure?”

Ed turned back to Roy and crossed the room. Grabbing him he pulled him over to the window and pulled Roy to stand in front of it. “Look.” While they were out of the way of the city, in this particular window the lights of central in the fading light of twilight looked stunning. Ed wrapped his arms around Roy’s waist and pressed his face into his shoulder. “This is it Roy. It’s perfect.”

Mustang sighed and turned to face his lover. He kissed Ed deeply and pulled back, his hands holding his face. “If you’re ready to spend the rest of your life with me here…” Roy grinned. “We can start moving in within the week.” He had known that Ed would love the house. From the moment he first came to see it he had known that this was the place. It was too perfect, too incredible for either of them to turn down. It fit, like they did together.

Ed took a deep breath. He had been waiting for the moment when something would tame him. It burned inside him for years. It was the only thing he had ever really needed, he needed and wanted a home. As he looked into his lover’s face he saw exactly that. He saw home and the realization of being home, of finally having that stability made him believe that his life from this point on, would be utterly beautiful. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay tuned for the next installment of "Offerings to Leto"..."Sacrifices" :)


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